Rise of the Spirit Wolf
by xX Blood-Bond Xx
Summary: Queen Mab, ruler of the Unseelie Court, has made a deal with the head Spirit Wolf. Should there child be taken into Faery a day before she turns eighteen Maxilim will take her sons. But when Mab takes her daughter home because of her safety, the deal becomes real. Now Crystal risks loosing her Soul and becoming the Unseelie demon; losing her love and her brothers along with it.
1. Brothers

"Stop! I just wanna talk!" I yell after the cloaked figure that managed to stay a good 20ft away as we tromped through the Baraga woods.

The person ignored me and kept weaving through the trees at an inhuman speed. Twigs had only occasionally snapped and the sharp smell of a thunder storm tainted the cool air. Winds blew at an ear howling speed, mist had set closely to the ground, only to be disturbed by our feet carving our paths, then reclaiming out trails, mystifying our whereabouts to any possible followers. Tonight was a dangerous one to be outside-not because of the wolves, cougers, snakes or bears. But because this is storm season. A to e when winter was almost at an end and summer presses to take its place. The storms here could be anywhere from a light sprinkle to a murderous storm like this.

He stopped instantly, disturbing nothing, making no sounds. Stopping a few feet behi d him with the same grace I waited, looking for any movements or shifts that would indicate he was going to run off again. After a few moments have passed, of us catching the small breath we had lost, I spoke. "Look, I'm not going hurt you. I just want to talk." I spoke softly, trying not to provok the man.

"Good," He said, unable to hide the grin in his voice. "Because so do we." The man turns around, showing his face. Frosty pale skin, blue eyes, harsh, pointed features, black hair that looked like spines on top of his head, and mulberry lips. Now that I wears closer i could make out pointy ears coming from the side off his head.

I take a step back. Not believing my eyes. He looked almost, but not quite, just like me. Before I could think or react two more people just...Appeared behind him, looking similar to the one I had been chasing.

I take another step back, trying to back out of this none sense. The fact he had pointed ears threw me off balance, but the face that we look like sibilings threw me on my ass.

"Who..." My words fumble, not sure which path to take. Any path seemed to be whisked away.

The one who I had been chasing stepped forward to be heard over the wind. "My name is Prince Rowan, of the Unseelie Court, son of Queen Mab. These are my brothers," he motions to his right. "Prince Sage." He then motioned to his left, the youngest. "And Prince Ash. We are here to collect you by order of Queen Mab."

Thunder sounds in the area and rain began to poor through the trees that swayed in the heavy wind. The mist on the ground was now a rough carpet of waves and holes, no longer smooth and reclaiming.

Something caught my ear. A noise that was all to girlish and familiar. Riley, my little sister, had screamed my name, probably looking for me in this beastly storm. A small sense of panic sets in. "We can talk more after I get her home!" I yell over the wind and run off into the woodThree three strange men in tow.

My little sister is only 15 and she is my responsibility, now and until the day she dies. As long as I'm alive that day is no where in sight. But still, for some reason I never made it official by vowing to do so. Because as I have learned, anything can happen.

My name is Crystal Maskew, eldest daughter of three children, protector of the youngest in our trio.

There were four of us once, two boys and two girls. Riley, Jason, Carter and I. My adoptive mother and father, Sean and Hala, told me at a young age that I wasn't there actual kid, but that Hala found me in the woods when she was hiking.

A half of my lice has been spent searching for my birth parents, or any blood related family. No success. Never any success. I could never find out why I had pointed ears, frost-like freckles, Snow White skin, black eyes, or why I'm inhumanly fast, strong, and why iron hurts when I touch it and why I can see and smell people's emotions... Why I lack emotion and morals everyone else has.

We were as close as could be, my siblings and I. As kids from Baraga we grew up in a world of family, drugs and drama. I stayed away from drugs and most people, keeping Riley away from as much of the poisons as I could, making sure she grew up right.

When drugs and pain finally killed Carter I made sure my older brother Jason didn't follow. But unfortunately I couldn't stop him from turning rotten, because he led Carter to his death and he would have done the same to Riley.

Sean and Hala had not only blamed follow for the death of there favored son but blamed me as well, claiming that I was a number of fowl names and that I was no longer a child of there's. So now they have lost both a son and a daughter because of there own stupidity.

I am dead to them, and always will be.

Riley had also fallen, in a way. Dispute my best efforts she became manipulative, cold, meaner, more socially dangerous. And I felt an odd sense of pride in that. She still shows me the same amount of affection but its much more bitter and twisted. Now she revels in chaos, heart break of others, twisted games that involved back biting and gossip. Even now I try to protect her, hope she will come out of her hole of hate because only she can save her self.

But the. I started to see the effects of her anger on not only the once simple , drugged town but on me as well. I started watching by back ten times as much as I usually did, enjoyed others mystery, and start to play my own sick games on those who, even for a second, dare to turn on Riley or make her hurt worse. And I love the tragic endings they come to.

My small group of friends at school turned on one another, eating at the years of trust and friendship we had. When Brittany spread a rumor about me being a whore I had an instinct to get revenge, to make an example out of her. Killing her was on the top of my list but it wouldn't make the taunting and harassment stop. So I beat her HALF way so death and made her admit the lie In front of the entire school. Then, for fun, I secretly shared all of her secrets.

Aleah was the only one who had tried to keep us together. Dana and Skye had become loners to avoid all of the games played. Brittany had betrayed us all and become to Lanse, and Aleah turned to me. She claimed I had always had an ability to influence people and that I could help her get our group back and asked me to stop making everyone's life miserable.

After that, my love for anyone else besides Riley had vanished. All of those years of compassion, noble choices, moral building, had bees waisted. I was left with the cold walls too keep me from going completely insane. iI had even abandoned my quest to find my birth family.

And it will remain that was unless these 'Princes' have anything to say.

Thankfully, despite the broken down power lines and lightening we managed not to get electrified on the way home after I found Riley in the swamp, stuck in the mud. But it took us nearly an hour to make our way back to my house in the projects.

In the live of identical houses stood one with a huge tan van parked in the drive way of a single story house. Wires snaked at the edge of the drive way, crackling with red sparks. The wind had already picked up so much speed it almost took me with it, but Sage had placed his hands on my shoulders, hovering behind me to prevent me from taking a forced flight.

We made our way to my house, crouching In a huddle where we clung to each other to stay on the ground. We cross the slippery brown lawn and danced around electric wires, trying not to touch them.

Finally we grab onto the brood between the garage and the house and with a heavy push we tumble inside, soaked with ice-water rain. The door had closed from the suction of the wind. Everyone had fallen to the ground in a pile, with me and Riley at the bottom. I pushed up with all my remaining strength to keep the full weight of us from crushing her delicate form.

After a moment we stand up, readjusting to the new atmosphere. The house was dead of electricity and had none of Halas candles lit.

"They must be down stairs." I open the basement doors, carrying a sleeping Riley in my arms. "Come on."

The stairs were wooded and creaky, but stayed silent as we made our way down the steps. That was another thing. No matter how creaky a place was I never disturbed it. And apparently they have the same talent.

We ignored the sounds of crazy thunder and lightening and the obnoxious sound of wind. At the bottom of the stairs I could make out Jason sleeping in a corner, holding a can of beer in hand. My adoptive parents slept soundly on a couch in the opposite corner. The cancel light down here was dull but enough to see.

i get a flash of anger at Riley's parents. Here they were, sleeping, while there little girl ran around in a killer storm!

I set her down with her parents and turn to face the strange men. "Okay, who's Mab? One of you said something about collecting."

Rowans eyes were fixated on Jason, but he turned his attention back to me. "Queen Mab is the ruler of the Unseelie Court," he says as is stating the obvious. "She has requested your presence and has sent us to assure her request is granted."

"Why has she requested my presence in this 'Unseelie' Court?" At the name a memory comes alive, standing just out of reach. I think I have read about it in English Class. "Besides, collecting someone doesn't seem like a job for Princes." If they are even Princes, which they're probably liars, this is just to unbelievable.

"Normally we wouldn't bother with such tasks, but since you are our sister, one who could easily be manipulated into a thousand deals and contracts, it is best we, your BROTHERS, come to take you home." He says with distaste, emphasizing his sibling lie.

"You..." I stopped, analyzing the rest of his story. They want to take me home. We look so much alike we could be siblings... But no. It's to good to be true. "How am I suppose to believe you? This is pretty far fetched."

Rowan looked offended. His body language had shifter from all mighty to something that put off a bad vibe. Ash still kept his stone face and for a moment I woundered if he could talk at all. Sage kept a calm focuses and turned to Jason.

"Does this seem fake to you?" He extended a hand to Jason. The air shifted with something, and then Jason was quickly encased in ice.

"What," quickly I reach into my back pocket and pull out a bronze switch blade, then ready myself for an attack by standing protectively in front of he couch. In front of Riley. "Are you?"

Ash grabbed the hilt of his sword. A silent dare to do something with the knife.

"You mean, what are WE, sister." Sage turned to me again. Those sharp green eyes cornering me like a mouse. "We are Fey." While I was distracted by his eyes he grabs my wrist and twists it so my hand deliberately dropped the knife. As the sharp metal falls he catches it in his hand. "Born by mortal dreams and imagination."

If I try to do something all he has to do is bend my wrist and it'll snap. But if I do nothing the who's going to stop him from hurting my sister? I hate him for putting me in such a defenseless position. If it were anybody else I would have stabbed out there eyes by now. But they aren't anybody else. They are the ones who put me in this position and I hate them for it.

But I do remember studying the Fey in a literature class. In most stories they were allergic to Iron, couldn't lie, and had this stuff called glamour. The Unseelie were the winter ones, very mean and had a good sense. As I recall more and more of the research I did I begin to feel so stupid because it took me until now to figure it out.

I relax and Sage releases my arm. He gives me the blade back, too.

"So you can't lie, right?" Its a stupid question. If they can lie then they will lie and say they can't.

"No. Everything we said was true." He confirms. "Once the storm calms then we'll leave."

The idea sounded wonderful! But the feeling was crushed as soon as I remembered why I stood between them and the couch. "I can't just leave them." I could. Physically, there's nothing to stop me. It's where my priorities lay. My blood family means as much to me as Riley, even if I hadn't gotten a chance to know them yet. Its was what I had always wanted anyway. To meet my parents and live with them. But I loved Riley. She wants me here and I love her.

Rowan gives me a dull expression. "You know, if you won't leave by choice, we'll just drag you along anyway. So say your good-byes, or don't say them at all."

I almost hissed at his tone. As if I couldn't kill them where they stand. And if I couldn't I would die trying. They only had swords, trained magic, a crap ton of muscle and a half a foot on me. I could probably take them as long as I can still run to the hospital.

Something in the air shifted. My head felt heavy and I felt drained. Was I going through PMS? No. Could it? The sudden mood change compelled me to think that, but I got the strangest sense one of them was causing it.

Ash's presence felt more solid then the other two. Like this was a dream. "Sleep on it." His deep voice commanded. I tried to fight the sleepy feeling that followed, but my will to stay awake withered away.

I tried to glare at him because I knew he was doing something, some how. Then, I gave in. My body fell to the wet floor and everything went black.

**Ok, so this was a scrap idea I had a few months ago. This is only half of the first chapter but let's face it, typing with an iPhone is the most tedious process in all of literature! Other wise this might be 6000 words long. **

**Tell me what you think, please? I'll give you virtual hugs!**


	2. Aren't They Charming?

**Thank You, ninja princess LW, for reviewing my story! I give you a BIG virtual hug! *hug***

**This chapter is because my sick sense of humor and this was not the original plot. The original was way more boring, trust me! Detailed but boring. But if you all find this unacceptable then let me know, I will fix it.**

I sat in the corner with a pencil in my hand and a drawing pad on my knees. When I had awoken I couldn't remember when I had blacked out. The floor was still wet and my sister was still sleeping with her family. The choice I have to make is gnawing on me.

How can I choose? I love Riley more then I do myself, and yet, I feel so trapped by her. She never wants me out of her sight unless she's with her friends and when were in school. But I really want to get to know my blood family. They gave me the answers as to why I'm so different, it relieved a huge burrden from my shoulders. And living in a place when I'm not different? It's been my dream for years.

I look up to see what everyone was doing. Jason, still in the ice. Probably dead. There is no reason to greave for him. He was waisting his life anyway. With the blond hair, brod shoulders, he could have been a football star. But instead he turned into that. Of all things.

Ash was reading a book from a dusty book shelf we left down here for storms like this. He flipped the pages with ease: obviously a reader. Rowan was actually whispering with Riley, and though I was suspicious as to how she was suddenly awake, they stood close. She looked at him sweetly and they conversed in voices to low for me to here. Rowan looked at her in a strange way: not quite flurtasious but more like he had an agenda, by the lite of his eyes. She played with her brown braid girlishly, then glances back to me with a raised eyebrow, then continued there conversation.

I felt the urge to go over there and slap Rowan. She just turned 15 for petes sake! And not to mention I feel like there incesting. He looks like he's seventeen. To old if you ask me. There is no reason he should be flirting with a girl that young, and when your not even being serious then thats just being an ass.

Rowan glanced at me and smirked as if he read my thoughts. Then his snake like arm slithered around her thin waist and pulled her close. The blood in my veins boiled. The pencil in my hand was crushed in my fist, splintering into a thousand pieces. Riley blushed and bit her lip, flattered.

I stood up imidiatly, pushing my drawing booklet away. Sage, who was falling asleep leaning against the stair case, opened his eyes and looked around. Ask looked up as well, appearing mildly interested In something other then a copy of _Between The Lines._

"Come on, Riles, lets go find some more candles." I say hurriedly, and just before Rowan's herpes infested lips touched my sister.

He whispers something sweetly to her, then releases her after she nods. Probably agreeing to pick it back up where they left off when we get back.

We go upstairs and I light a ball of blue fire in my hand that lit up the living room. Luckly there wasn't any hail yet so all of the windows were still holding out. The fire snapped angerly in my hand and the rain went in a frenzy.

"What are you talking about, that was our only candle! And you picked the worst possible time to. Couldn't you see I was kinda busy with tall, charming, and sexy?" She whispers so the people down stairs couldn't hear.

My face contorts like I swollowed a spider. Of all times, now she decides to bring up sex? "Your 15! Why the hell are you bringing up sex now? And with my brother! Seriously," I check in the cabinets while she stands around. "I feel like your incesting."

Riley was the only one why knew about my weird powers, that I now know is magic. Over the years of faery tails at bedtime she related me to the people with pointed ears In the books and begged me to do magic. And to my surprise, I lit a ball of fire in my hand. Ever since then I experimented with my abilities and mastered fire, moving water, and the force field.

She got an impish grin on her face. "We're not related, though. And it's not incesting until we-"

"Stop! Okay, I shouldn't have brought it up." I really didn't want to get into this conversation, not when images were flying through my head. And we have more important things to discuss. "But it's not going to work out between you two because they're leaving. You two can't keep a relationship if your worlds apart."

"He told me everything. But with looks like that, who cares? Besides, no one actually does the whole 'dating' thing anymore. It's all about the hook-up."

I growl. "Dammit Riley, just stay away from him!"

The window shatters and hail starts pouring through. The heavy sound of the hail on the roof followed. Riley screamed and got her foot cut on a shard of glass.

Before I could do anything, Rowan engulfed her in a hug and shielded her away from the window, carrying her over by me, where it was safe. My heart raced when the coppery smell of blood filled the air along with ozone.

I started digging through the drawers to find the first aid-kit and the antibacterial to take care of her cut. The last thing she needed was to get her foot amputated because we were stuck in a storm. When I find the Snow White kit i turn to see them enjoying a deep, spit swapping kiss. Im not enjoying it.

For a moment I debate on cutting off Rowans over active boys and lock Riley in a frick'en closet to keep them from eachother. Deciding against it I yell over the wind, "We should really clean her cut! So stop sucking face already!"

They didn't stop. They intensified the kiss by tangeling themselves together and leaning aginst the wall.

My pacience snapped. I slammed the first aidkit on the counter, next to the paper and pen, and rush to my room to escape those two and their lusty smelling mist. It's bad enough I had to witness that but smelling the likely future of those two is just downright nasty. Especially when it's your new found brother and younger sister going at it like rabbits.

I lock the door to my glow in the dark room. The calmness of solitude washed over me at last. My window had been boarded up because I hate the sun. It gets my room hot and it wakes me to early. How Hala can just jump out of bed without a coffee is beyond me.

With the calm atmosphere and no face suckers I can finally focus on deciding if I want to stay or leave. I love my sister. But since she's proving she doesn't need me and won't listen to me when I'm trying to help her I'm not sure i want to stay. Why stay if she doesn't want me anymore? And I want to get to know my blood family as bad as I want to stay. It's what I wanted ever since I was a kid. But it feels wrong to leave Riley, who's the only reason I'm alive.

Should I turn my back on her?

Two people laughing came from the other side of the wall. I listened again out of habit. There wasnt ever any laughter in this house anymore.

'What is it with those two?' The sounds of them kissing came through the wall and forced its way into my ears, even though I've covored them. Before they could get any louder I hurry out of the room and back towards the basement. I needed the company of normal, nonhorny people.

The blue ball of fire I forgot about waited outside my door patiently. As if it saw me, it sparked gleefully and lit up even brighter. And in that brighter light I saw them in her doorway. His hair was messed up as he tounge wrestled her. Rowan looked up at me when her eyes were closed and she moaned, making my stomach churn in disgust. He smiled at me like he was taking a stroll through the park.

I bared my canines and hissed, making his grin more sinister.

When I reached the kitchen I stopped. The floor was caked in water and slush where the window had broken in. Glass shards stuck up from the slusI in dozens of spikes, making it an area to avoid. Lightening struck and for a moment everything reflected the pure light while the thunder roared deaphiningly. The light of it pointed out that four tracks had stood in the slush not to long ago.

One of the footprints, one of a circle of four, was small, bare, and bled. The other three were bigger and had identical shoe patterns of the bottom of there feet. The question wasn't who was standing here. That was obvious enough. The question was why were they standing here? Sage and Ash didn't really seem like ones to talk so if they gathered in a group to converse it had to be important to some degree, right?

'Or they could have been arguing over the storm.' Logic pointed out. Sage and Ash are likely to want to leave as soon as possible, so they could be finding a new kind of plan.

The bloodied footprints went to the counter. On the counter still sat the first-aid kit. I checked inside of it and all of the supplies were untouched. That annoyed me. But she had to have done something. I put the first-aid right next to the pen and paper.

The pen and paper. Those were missing Along with the envelope. 'Why would she want to mail something now?'

That piqued my curiosity.

A scream exploded down stairs. With no insulation in the floor I could hear it as clear as ever. Even through the storm It was audiable and I knew imidiatly that Hala had woken up from hibernation. This wasnt going to be pleasant. The woman was very territoroal. She never liked it when people she hadn't met were on her property, especally when in was armed men. Escecally when it involved and weapons. And the fact they look like me isn't going to encourage her to calm down.

Marching down the steps as quickly as possible, hoping that one of my brothers incases her in ice as well, I find Hala and Sean backed away in a corner while my brothers close in on them. If it wernt for the fact that they're Riley's parents them i would let Ash and Sage do what ever they wanted to them.

Hala was as tall as her daughter and had the same form as her. She basically looked like a forty year old version of Riley. But unlike her, she didn't constantly wear skirts. Hala wore pants and a blouse.

Sean was a bit of a nitwit. Straight Ds through school and was thirty. He was pale and had greasy blond hair. Just like Carter and Jason did. He was shirtless, showing off a bs all beer gut, and had shorts on.

They both looked at my brothers with terror.

This was also another reason I should leave. I hate putting up with there constant crap and low IQ points.

Rowan and Riley's sounds weren't as loud but the creaking of the bed springs was a constant sound that seemed to echo In my head and drive me nuts with awful pictures.

"Why the hell are these people in my house? Who are you?" She screams and hides in Sean's noodle arms. Her angry eyes flick to me. "What are you doing out of your room? How many others did you let in?" She struts towards me and bombards me with questions she's already asked.

Along time ago I learned not to speak when she did this. Hala would ask dozens of questions and give me the same pissy face she was giving me now. Back then I would always look at my feet and mumble the answers. She would force me to repeat them even louder. When I did she called me a liar, threw me out of the house, and called the cops for some bogus reason. Now I just keep me expression neutral.

Hala stops her interrogation and listens. "Who's in that room?" She asks seriously.

An idea springs into my head. One that would solve all of my problems. She had the same no sex policy I did, but she had the authority to stop what was going on. And she would use it. "Rowan is up there with her." I reply in as calm a voice as possible.

And this time she doesn't call me a liar.

"Everyone, upstairs, now!" She orders. She stomps up the stairs with Sean in tow.

I glance at my other, not horny, normal brothers, expecting them to be unnerved by all of this. Everyone else who had to sit through one of our family's episodes they always looked at there feet and counted the minuets until they left. But they didn't. They both stared at me with those blank expressions. They either must be use to this kind of thing or are just good at keeping there emotions bottled up.

"Aren't _they_ charming?" I mumbled to myself and walked up the stairs. This had to be the worst way to kick off a relationship. Having the people you've been searching for your entire life find out you live with the worst combination of people possible? They must be thinking I'm a total hick, like my 'parents' and have no modesty like my 'innocent' sister. And normally, I wouldn't even care. But even if I hate it I can't deny that I care what they think.

**Yay! Another chapter is done!**

**You know what really made me angry with this chapter? When ever I went to save it I lost the Internet signal and lost it. Multiple times. When you have something exactly how you want it then it gets deleted. Worst feeling ever.**

**Thank you for reading and please leave a review to tell me what you think about it, what you would like to have explained, anything. **


	3. The Deal

I stopped being embarrassed by my family a long, long time ago. When they constantly act like a circus in front of the entire town you get use to the odd stairs and judgmental look people give. Then again, it might just be the way I look, but that's not the point. The point is, when my family makes a scene, Its important to suck it up and wait for it to pass. And right now would be the perfect time to continue to practice it.

Hala dragged Rowan and Riley by there ears into the living room while Sean pulled down a metal covor on the window that was broken, sealing out the storm which had called down long enough for the lights to come on. As soon as I had gone down stairs I extinguished my fire because I didn't need another problem to deal with.

Rowan was without a shirt and Riley was in her underwere. They both let out complaints and protesgot and received a pinch to the ear lobes. I couldn't help but give my sister my best I-told-you-so smile. This would solve the issue of my sisbilings, give me time to think if I really want to go, and if Hala manages to piss Rowan off enough he might kill her and then Riley would never want to look at him again. It's a brilliant plan.

"Who told you that it was okay for the two of ya to be doing that?" She asks in the meanest voice possible. This wasn't one of her false inrerrogations. Shes expecting an answer.

Riley held her moms wrist to try and ease the pain. "Haven't you ever heard of _privacy?"_ She wails. Riley was usually allowd to do what ever she wanted. But this was one of those thoughs things that wasn't allowd in our house hold.

"Privacy is for kids who behave!" Hala snaps back.

After a few more moments of fussing Hala turns to Sean. "Honey, get the paddle."

They both let out more protests like small children. This was very, very amusing to me.

Sean returns from the kitchen with a four foot long, oak paddle that had been used on all of my human sibilings many times. She takes it and releases both of there ears. "One of you better answer me."

They rubbed there ears and gave no response. Hala staired then down, neither budging. Rowan was obviously tempted to do something, but for a reason I couldn't place he just stood there. "Alright then, boy, we'll start with you." She pointed to the arm of the couch. She expected him to bend over it so she could get a clear shot at his rear.

I caught a glance at Ash and saw his mouth form the slightest of smiles. Like he wanted to see Rowan get a lick'en.

When i looked back at Rowan he was still standing there. Riley was arguing with Hala to not do it, then finally, "No one!" She cried out. Riley was wrapping her arms around self to try and gain modesty, her cheeks flushed red from embarrassment. And I admit it, I felt a little bad for her. I remember what it's like to be in that situation.

"See? Was that so hard?"

"Yes!" She cries.

Hala, unsatisfyed, points to the arm of the couch again. "Alright, you each get ten lick'ens."

Rowan steps forward and glares at Hala. "I'm not going through with this." The light of his face was dark and serious. He put a hand on his sword and unsheathed it. Hala backed up a step.

"Don't hurt her!" Riley demanded, just like she would do to me if I was doing something she didn't like. She was just like Hala. She ordered people around, expected the world to be exacally how she wanted, and cried when ever she didn't get her way. I always thought it was all because of her grief from loosing Carter, but now I see it a little differently.

He raised his ice sword slowly and glared at Hala. The woman dropped the paddle and stepped back. Sean moved forward to stop him but was to late. Rowan brought down the sword across her neck. Blood poured down around her and her head landed with a thud. Riley screamed for me to do something.

And the instinct to make her happy pulled me to attack Rowan. But I didn't. There was something else telling me to do something entirely different. The smell of thick blood filled my nose and made it harder to think clearly.

I didn't want to do anything about this. Why am I going to keep doing what ever she tells me? Why can't I do what I want for a change? And I already knew what I wanted. I wanted to hunt to kill everyone in this house.

As If sensing what I was thinking Ash and Sage pull me away by my arms.

They closed the door and one of them started to talk to me. The storm was just a normal storm now. Wind that would only push you around and no hail. The rain was thick and cold, drenching us again.

"Don't listen to the instinct. Forget about the blood and don't go back inside."

My canines grew at the thought of all of the blood. It was hard to not think of it when you hated the woman almost all of your life. Hunting them down seemed like good fun to have.

The scent of blood wasn't as strong out here. All I could smell was rain and wind.

Sage, who stood in front of me while Ash held my arms behind me and rendered them useless, spoke to his brother. "We need to get her back to Tir Na Nog. If she starts killing humans then the Gods will come for her."

"And what a out the Court? If she starts killing Court Faery then Mab will kill her."

"Lady Mab wanted us to bring her back alive. When she gets to the Court then it is not our problem."

A low guttural growl grows in my throught. It became impossible to focus on what they were talking about. The instinct to hunt and kill was taking a lot of concentration to control. My eye sight was suddenly sharper. I could make out each rain drop as if I was only inches from them and I could see past the dark gloom of the far sky and see the faint last traces of light going down from behind a thin wall of clouds. Before I knew what was happening I was being dragged through the town and towards the woods.

The distruction of the storm was everywhere. Broken trees laid on the side of the roads and velicals had been flipped over and strwen everywhere. Once again the power cords were sparking and trash was flying in the wind.

My blood boiled. _Kill them! They're stopping you from the hunt! _The voice screamed. I panicked when I knew it was right. I wanted...no, needed to hunt!

I thrashed around in Ashes arms and hissed. He tightened his hold on me and almost crushed me under his strength. He was stronger then me! I bristled at the thought.

And they continued to drag me off. The pray got further and further from my gras. And I couldn't break out of the bastards hold!

101010101010

The trip was a haze. We were probably miles from my home town. But I really didn't care that I was. I decided to go with them when I saw that Riley was just like het mother. It was what happened afterwards that I cared about. The last thing I could remember was Rowan's sword about to kill Hala. Everything after that was just foggy.

Rowan had caught up with us soon enough. He was fully clothed again, to my joy, and was back to his arrogant, confusing self. I was still angery with him. He was screwing my sister and that was just plane wrong. He acted like nothing had happened between them and like I didn't care about what he did. No one told me what had happened after I blacked oButane I suspected they were hiding something from me.

Eventually, we came upon a clearing in the woods. The moonlight shown brilliantly now that the storm had passed and everything was left glistening with water, reflecting the gental light. Fireflys moved around lazily, blinking in and out of sight. In the center of the clearing stood two think vines, something odd because they don't grow here, that grew upwards by themselves and twisted into one when a few meters high. The vines framed a silver door that showed blurry pictures of another forest beyond it. This place pulsed with energy and a kind of power.

I take a sniff of the air. The smell of passion and a mix of strong emotions dwelled within the clearing. "What is this place?"

I don't really read about faery's and magic much. Literature class was an exception, though nothing in there mentioned these kinds of things.

"This is called a Trod. They are the pass ways between the Mortal world and the Nevernever." Sage informed me and approached the 'Trod'. "They appear in places with lots of glamour and imagination."

I accessed the new information. "Why is there glamour all the way out here?" I listened carefully for sounds of people in the area, both because I wanted to know if they had done it and because if the wrong people snuck up on you in the woods you could be in alot of trouble.

Once, in the druggie town, people always played in the woods and roamed around to just do it. It was our playing space where no one could judge us. But when chaos erupted people prowled the woods and looked for unwary kids. They might kill you. They might rob you. They might take you. I never personally had an experiance with those people and I didn't know who they were but I knew plenty of people who had something happen to them.

Sage shrugged. "I don't know for sure. It might have been the artist who always roams these parts of the woods."

I blink. Who in there right mind would go running around the woods with all of the dangers?

Besides me.

My thoughts go to a girl I always saw at school. Her name was Raven Ezma Hearest, I think. She was always quiet and alone. Occasionally we would have sat next to eachother at an assembly but we never talked. I knew she was an artist because her skills in class were better then everyone else's and she doodled in class almost all od the time. Only once I followed her after school. She went into the woods and stayed there the entire night. Literally. I was dead tired and the sun was coming up when she went back out of the woods, then she just went to school like normal.

The memory of her sprung violent pulses of energy from the area and I guess that means it recognizes her. Suddenly I felt like she was watching us. Sage went on about Trods and Glamour and other stuff I was partly tuned Into. The feeling of being watched was so strong I could imagine those intense brown eyes circling us like they belonged to a wolf.

"It's strange there isn't any Fey here. The glamour is so strong." Ash muses and looks around like he also felt like someone was watching us.

"It is strange. But we still have a quest to complete." Rowan struts toward the Trod and stops for a moment. "Now if you are all done standing around, I think I would like to get moving." He steps into the Trod...

...and bounces back.

He falls on his back and shoots up. I had to resist the urge to laugh at him and the look he carried on his face. He looked as angry and confused as a toddler who's been told no. "It's blocked." He announces with dignity.

"How could it be blocked?" I ask to see if he knew, hoping he didn't so I could have another reason to hold him in a low regard.

He stops to think a moment. The longer he stays silent the harder it was for me to keep from smirking. From the corner of my eye I could make out a silhouette standing at the edge of the clearing.

"Probably because of the Saint-Johns-Wart I put on the door," She swaggers forward and into the light. It was Raven. She gave us all a poisonous glare and stopped once she was next to the Trod, as if to protect it. Tonight she carried a double bladed sword and stunk of lots of Iron. Her brown eyes sized each of us up.

"You can see us?" Ash stepped up and put a hand on his sword.

She rolled her eyes. "Obviously. Why is it that I seem to be the only one on the planet that doesn't need to question the obvious?"

"Take the flower off of the Trod." He damands.

Raven twirls her sword. Like always she was in boots, pants, and a purple shirt. Her Brown hair was short and spikey like a porcupine. "Sorry," she croons insincerely. "No can do. You see, her father, Maxilim, has sent me here to remind you of the deal Mab and him made."

All three of my brothers unsheathed there swords with a rasp and pointed the tips at her. Ash moved in front of me and the air grew colder by the second. She didn't even flintch. It had to be at least negative ten with there chill. Instead Raven yawned and waited.

"Who are you?"

"You can call me Raven. Now, after I remind you of the deal then, if you still want to take her, then I will take the flower down and leave you be." Raven clears her throught. "Shall the princess of Winter and daughter of the Gods be taken into Faery a day before she turns eighteen then Maxilim, brother of the Lightening God, shall take the Winter Queens three Sons. Should the Queen want her sons back then the daughter will have to venture forth into Hell and kill the Black Serpent and confront Maxilim." She states in a grand, dramatic storytelling voice.

"Now tell me, do you three want to go to Hell?"

She had to be lying. It's not like she's a fey who can't lie. She's a mortal. And a story teller. Its not beyond her capability to make up a story to try and scare us.

"No." Sage answered. "But it's not our choice. Our Queen had ordered her return home and we will comply. Even if it costs us our lives."


	4. New forms and Shrunken Powers

"So you knew about this?" I ask accusingly. They should have clued me in. How am I suppose to keep them safe if they don't clue me in?

Raven removed the Saint-Johns-Wart from the top of the vine framed Trod that we were suppose to take into the wyldwood and then took off. I was confused about her. She appeared to be human and yet she could see Fey. And she even knew about a deal that was between my parents. If they wouldn't give me the answers I wanted, right now, then I am going to track her down and demand them.

Sage, Rowan and Ash had sheathed there swords once again and had moved from there protective stance around me, as if I couldn't defend myself. After all, I'm apparently a daughter of Zeus brother, so I can totally beat there butts all the way back to the Unseelie Court and still have enough energy to fight a dragon. Right?

"It's not out place to question the Queen, sister. If your going to survive in the Unseelie Court then you need to learn that. Quick." Rowan drawled land leaned on his hip.

"You could have told me." All of there calmness infuriated me. They all stood there and waited for the questions. "Why would Mab even want me if it put you's at risk?"

Sage was the one to speak up. He said in a soothing voice to get me to calm down, "With all of the Iron and disbelieve in the Mortal world would have eventually caused you to fade away into nothing. The only reason you're still her is because your Fey side is dominate. But you would not have lasted till your eighteenth birthday. You would have lived until you were seventeen if we did not come to take you."

"I would have found a way." I always had. And I always will. I am going to keep them from being in danger for as long as i can make possible.

"It does not matter. Queen Mab has ordered you home."

_This argument is impossible. Im preaching to a brick._ I thought. They wouldn't listen to me if I gave a thousand different ideas, I could tell the response would always be the same about obeying the Queen. If thats all my life is going to be about there then I'm not sure i want to go. But they're all I have left now. Rowan killed the rest of my screwed up family. There's no where to run but to hide until I'm 18.

"You can't be taken if you can't catch me."

Alarm shoots across there face. That's the last I see of them because when I turn around the trees are flying past me a million miles an hour. The wind blew through my long black hair and my clothes rippled at the speed. My white sneakers dashed across the muddy ground and bounced over roots and boulders. I zigged and zagged through the brush and scaled trees to hope onto the top edge of gullies, hoping my black hoody would help conceal me in the night.

They were never far behind. Sage and Rowan were at my sides and I suspected Ash was behind me. Every time i would pass a tree they would blink into sight for a moment then go back to invisible. I was constantly worried they would catch me and drag me where ever they were headed because I'm doing this for there own good. Even if it means Mab has to wait a few years.

Rowan dived in to tackle me, but I jumped over him and caught onto a branch that stopped me. I dropped to the ground. They stopped and turned around. I bolted another direction. We played this game for hours. They would try to catch me and I would do something random to escape and they would be hot on my trail a few seconds later.

Then they disappeared completely.

I screeched to A halt. My lungs sucked air in hungrily and I struggled to stay on my feet. Maybe they got tired awhile back and stopped for a break. Once I had regained my breath I looked around. These woods were familiar. I remembered coming here a lot when it was summer and hot out. I was next to the Canyon. The Canyon is a swimming spot out in the woods where there's a huge 70ft plummet until you hit water. It's always a dare to see who will jump and who can get down the fastest.

The trail was thin and bare as the grass here was dead and still had snow piles every so often.

Weeds rustled from behind me. I sprinted up the trail and didn't even glance back. In no time at all I came to the opening in the trail where the dirt and weeds stopped and rock was under every step. The sky was prominent and peaceful. Without stopping, I glance back. A deer walked out of the trail and stared at me with its white tail sticking up.

Feeling ridiculous, I slow down and look ahead of me. My eyes sudden when I see a redheaded, seventeen year old boy with a brown hoody and green hunter pants holding a vile of sparkling blue liquid that smelled of youth.

We spot eachother at the same time. By the time I started to stop I was only a few inches away from him.

We smack into eachother with enough force to send us flying off the edge of the cliff. The sparkiling blue liquid flew out of the bottle and soaked our clothes, then, we splash into the water below.

In the water a tingling sensation spread across me. It went as soon as it vanished, so I thought nothing of it. I swam to the surface and took a breath of air. I only jumped a few times before and it scares me every time. A lot of people don't even do it because its to high.

"Oops."

I turn. The boy I had crashed into looked younger. A lot younger. Instead of havering the appearance of a teenager he looked like a twelve year old. The red head bursted out laughing.

"What?" My voice comes out high and shrill, tiny and nothing like my own voice. Reaching to feel my neck I find that my hands are small to. "What did you do to me?" I hiss.

His face was red with mirth. The boy only stopped long enough to say, "Your a toddler."

"No I'm not." Impossible. I can't be. But the boys sudden change in age scares me. What I'm a toddler? I raise my arms and look at them. They were shorter and had a little bit of chub to them. The same went for my legs... My clothes were gone. I screamed and tried to cover myself while swimming.

The boy kept laughing, though not nearly as hard as before. His clothes here only big and still stayed on. I must have been so small I floated threw them.

"I wouldn't be laughing if I were you." I warned. The water around us started to stir, though it seemed harder to control for some reason. Like it did when I first started to play with magic.

He stopped laughing. "Aww, are you threatening me little girl?" The boy talks in a baby voice.

With everything I have I force my hands forward, intending to create a huge wave and smash him like a bug on the canyon. The water ripples and moves with my hands, churning as I command it. The rush of water goes up two feet and pushes him back a few feet. I scream in frustration.

"What did you do to me?" I yell and hold out my hands, focussing on the water surrounding him.

"What were you doing slapping the bottle of Forever Young out of my hands?" He asks sarcastically with that stupid grin on his face.

My energy foucases on tightening my hands, which was so much harder then it use to be. The water gets colder and colder, turning into slush. My arms tremble. My energy spent, I release the hold on the water and gasp for air. This shouldn't be that hard!

"Thats cute." He croons. "Don't worry, chicka, this potion was only a temporary one. It could wear off anytime in the next 50 years..." The boys green eyes roll into the back of his head as if he was thinking.

50 years? Im going to be stuck like this for fifty freaking years? Argh! If I could kill him anyway I wanted I would knit a sweater with his instestins!

Quickly, he checks my expression, then goes back to grinning. "...Or in the next few muinets."

My shirt floated past me along with my underwear. We began arguing and I tried to fashion my clothes to fit so I tied them, but my shirt pretty much acted like a dress. He asked my why I don't just glamour some clothes and then I had to admit that I didn't know how, and that sent him drowning in laughter. Literally.

"Goodfellow, what did you do to my sister?" Ash called out from shore. The shore was only about ten feet off from where we were. Rowan and Sage stood beside him. There was no where to run.

Goodfellow looked at Ash, confused. "You have a sister? Why didn't you tell me?" He snapped his fingers. "I should have guessed she was related to you somehow. She also tried to kill me." He was only half serious the entire time, like he was joking.

"Well, she should be easier to handle." Rowan murmured to Sage.

"So whats her name, Ice-Boy? Or should I call her Ice-_Girl?"_

After a moment Ash drew his sword and an icy cold leaked from his body. He took a step forward and narrowed his eyes. "You know I'm going to kill you. For her."

Goodfellow gave an exasperated sigh, but it sounded forced like the cheer he slapped on his face. "If you must." He turned into a black raven with green eyes, almost looking like a baby, and flew off with ice daggers right behind him.

I panicked and looked for a way out. If I was normal then I could easily keep running, but I'm stuck as a three year old and my powers, and I'm guessing me speed and strength, are now midget strength.

They pull me out of the water and I was suddenly not wearing my sopping wet clothes, but a small silver dress. For a moment I wondered if this what he meant by glamouring clothes. Sage held me and kept me from running off again. I tried to kick and squirm but now he was much, much stronger then me. Ash and Rowan argued about some girl and killing that guy that turned me into a kid.

Eventually, I tired myself out and stopped fighting. They might be doing something to me or I might just be worn out, but I felt calm and just wanted to rest. By the time we got back to the Trod it was the afternoon and everyone had stopped trying to kill each other with words. In the sun the vines looked even more unreal. They were so out of place.

We stepped through the Trod in a rush of energy. On the other side a battle raged around us. Short little green, warty men killed each other with spears and clubs, eating freshly fallen enemies. Two larger ones with yellow and red eyes battered the other in the center of everything. The forest around us was quiet and looked desaturated and the trees were taller then the school. It was like those grand forests artists are always painting in fairy tales and children's books.

Rowan, Sage and Ash all started cutting down the little green men who came to close. While Sage swung his sword I was being tossed side to side violently and clung onto his neck so I wouldn't slip into the battle unarmed. Once again my blood boiled: because I couldn't do anything to help my brothers.

The little men fought with clumsiness and rage, a complete contrast from the winter fey protecting me. My brothers swung there swords like a hypnotic dance, never moving out of a protective stance and always hitting there swords mark. As sage twirled around with me in his arms I caught brief flashes of everything going on around us.

The two bigger ones stopped fighting and took notice to us. While Sage was deflecting a spear from his leg I caught a glimpse of them shaking hands and charging at us. All of the short smelly men stopped fighting eachother and charged at us. Black blood was splattered everywhere be swords and glamour.

The strong sent of blood attacked my senses and I caught glimpses of fallen things being eaten by each other.

My stomach growled.

A green man. One with large, gnarled, sharp yellow teeth, hobbled towards Sages back. He didn't make a sound and licked his bloody lips with a pointed black tounge. He snuck up behind my brother and I started to yell. He took Sages upper lag and tore his nasty teeth through his muscles. Sage cried out and fell to the ground. His arm dropped me and I rolled through pools of blood.

Quickly, I sat up and looked around for Sage or Rowan or Ash. I couldn't see them. Those green men surrounded me and laughed at my misfortune. Each one of them carried a crudely made spear and knives, snapping there teeth together.

My heart hammered. I stood and instinctavly took on the offensive. My hands raised and the ground pulsed intime with my heart beat, but the ground didn't move. I fouscased the energy around us and tried to form a ball of fire. The ball of blue fire flickered weakly in my palms. They laughed and stepped towards me.

I launched the fire ball at the one closest to me and hit him directly in the chest. He stumbled backward and smoke streamed from a scorch mark on his shirt. Another one came from my side and raised his spear. Time slowed as he stabbed it down ward. Three others raided there weapons and did the same. My legs were stiff and I watched the spear head get closer and closer.

"Crystal!" Someone shouted beyond the wall of green.

**Grrrrr! I feel like more should be happening per chapter.**

**So thats it! I'm going to try my damnedest to have at least three minor plot twists and try to get at least one major per two chapters, give or take. Because two points of action a chapter is not good enough for my writing, I say! **


	5. Spear to the Ear

The metal tip of the spear gleamed in the fierce sunlight. My body was frozen and I couldn't draw my magic. Someone shouted my name beyond the mass of green and the raunchy smell of despiration filled the air along with the black blood.

A roar bellowed above us. The sun went dark and fire shot from a black figure in the sky, burning the forest in molten and black smoke. The Green Men froze and turned in horror. Above us was a long, thin lizard with four winds as long as school buses and a tail spiked with long pointed edges. Its human sized teeth snicked when it bit the two Big Green Men in half. The monster landed and enclosed us all in a circle with its wings.

Every thing froze. It's long scaly neck arched up and it searched through us with bright fiery eyes. A tingling sensation rippled thorough out my body in a way that had nothing to do with fear. Then suddenly, I grew. My limbs stretched and I could feel myself getting stronger. The dress faded and my real clothes showed, though they were still much to big on me. I could see over the Green Men and see that Sage had been stumbling over to me and Rowan and Ash were at separate corners of the ring.

The monsters eyes landed on Ash.

No one dared move. There was no way out but to kill the monster that could incinerate us with a sneeze. It's head lowered towards Ash, and now that it was closer I could see soft, none protected ears bent back to look like scales. The ear opening was at the top of the head, just beside the brain. If I could manage to throw something sharp on there I could probably fry it's brain. But it was a long shot. To far and to small a target.

"Prince Ash of the Unseelie Court, Third Son of Mab. Correct?" Against all odds, the monster spoke. Even if the voice was deep and gravely, low and powerful, it spoke.

Ash noded politely. He gripped his sword and tried to keep his fear form showing.

"You are sommoned by Maxilim the Great." The monster lowered his head, giving Ash permission to climb on.

I felt like a failure for letting myself get caught by them. This is all my fault. If I had tried harder and if I had ran faster maybe... Stopped myself from being turned into a child then I could have found a way to stop this. But I'm not good enough to protect them. I can't even out run them.

But if I could just hit where that ear home was then I could make up for it. So I will.

My eyes flick to the spear the Green Man was about to kill me with. That could probably work. And I could throw it. The Green Man was so transfixed by the monster that he didn't notice when I took the spear from his hand.

Ash glanced at me and his eyes open slightly. So he slowly took steps forward, giving me time to throw. The monsters eyes were closed, clearly not expecting a revolt.

Thinking back to the time I saw the movie 300 in history class I mimicked Leonardous's throwing pose. Everyones eyes were on me. The Green Men braced them selves and Sage and Rowan tenced, ready to run on the chance that I hit my mark. I worry that Sage won't beable to run, let alone stand, on that leg of his. He was already bleeding every where and was gritting his teeth.

My heart beat so loud I was sure the monster could hear it. I took a shaky breath and readied myself. Ash was just about to step up to the beast. I thrusted the spear from my arms as hard as I could.

The spear soared through the darkened sky and was the size of a tooth pick in comparison to the huge monster. The spear went straight into the ear hole and the monster jerked its head up and screached fire into the air. The fire went straight for Ash before he could move. I raised my hands and willed a force field to appear around him by picturing a purple bubble around him. The fires force against the shield was heavy and my knees buckled under stress.

Green Men fled rapidly, dropping there sticks and heading for the wing that had lifted slightly off of the ground. After the fire had deminished I pulled down the force field and was forced to the ground from energy exertion.

The monster quickly refocused on me and bared its teeth.

I was lifted into someones arms and we sped of. The heat and glow of fire and molten behind us singded my skin and burned his white cape. The tingiling feeling washed over me again but this time my skin felt tight, like it was shrinking. Rowan repositions me and holds me like a baby. He darts us under the black wing and we take off into the forest. Sage ran with Ash and barely managed to stay up.

The monster spun. It moved to chase us, the insides of its mouth glowing red with prefire spit. Another black figure glided out of the night and slammed into its neck. The new monster was smaller and scrawnyer, but its long tallons tore its throught apart and the two began to fight.

"Jabberwocky!" The second one called out in a shrill, loud voice.

I shivered. Even I knew what a Jabberwocky was. They were the most frightening creaters ever known to have existed. Legend says a Jabberwocky can only be slain by a cerirtain sword. If that's true then that thing that tried to take Ash was about to get its shit torn up.

After a few miles of sprinting we stopped. Ash proped Sage up against a tree and Rowan set me down next to a briar patch. Him and Ash began tending to Sages leg. I watched the battle in the distance. We were up on a hill and I took the spot next to the trees that showed the clearing. Lots of the forest was burning and they were boxing it out. I was somewhat grateful for the distraction because it gave me something elseto focus on besides my smaller form. And I knew if I did focus on it then I would start yelling and probably re-attract there attention. And I would be fussing over Sages leg, get in the way and then try to strangle one of them for not guarding well enough.

This whole day was strange. I don't thing I can recall a time I've felt this much emotion. It was mostly anger and fear, but still, it was emotion. And the fact in feeling it this much is disturbing. Back before I met those three I felt emotion maybe once a week? Less? Once I get settled I will probably be back to normal.

When the grunting and harsh whispering stopped I tuned into there conversation. They were hiding something. Unlike the people back home I couldn't just read there faces and get a message. They concealed it and there emotions well. Something I probably don't have much practice in because I've never need to hide them except for keep my face blank. The way they behaved made me curious about where they lived. Just how dangerous is it in the Unseelie Court?

"She looks like she's three, Ash! Don't you think Mothers going to have something to say on this?" Rowan was probably the only one who was open with facial expressions. But he's like one of those poker players that use looks to there advantages. Smile when you get crap and look nervous when you got a good hand so people will bet that they got better cards then him.

He could have made it good in a casino.

"The potion will wear off. If she ingested it then she would have been stuck like a two year old to begin with." Ash kept his face and his emotions hidden through and through. The only time I seen any kind of emotion from him was when that thing was trying to steal him and when Rowan was almost spanked by Hala.

"And you, little brother, know that it could take half a century for her to be normal again. But tell me, why did you not try to kill Goodfellow when you saw him, perfectly vulnerable and distracted? Could it be that you don't want to kill him?" Rowan pries and sounds like he's trying to get Ash to snap.

Nothing. He didn't hesitate to answer and didn't give any indication of what he was feeling. "We have more important things to do."

Then there argument about this mysterious girl Ash had once failed to protect. If all the arguing gave away one thing it was that those two absolutely hated each other. And I can't help but wonder if this new family of mine is even more fractured then the old.

1010101010101010

We arrive in Tir Na Nog not to long after. I was mesmerized by all of the snow and trees and ice. It was paradise. The temperature was comfortably cool and I got he sense I was stronger here. Live a home field advantage granted by the snow.

I wound up wearing that puffy silver Gown again and they wouldn't let me walk at all because I was to slow with these damned legs. The worst part was that I got the feeling some lady was going to be stuffing me in all of these 'cute' dresses and force me not to cuss and bite.

I just better get my own sword.

When we arrived in the City people everyone stopped to stair. Sage was healed and showed no traces that he was ever injured. Rowan's cape was suddenly whole and he refused to let Ash carry me in. So I was stuck with the one, who I'm still mad at, who screwed my sister and made sure I was listening.

The palace was huge and made of stone and ice in the underground city. It was by far the nicest thing I have ever seen.

"When you speak to the Queen, do not question her or address her as Mom. You will refer to her as Queen Mab." Sage instructed quietly so the hordes following us wouldn't hear.

I nod. What ever it takes. Besides the fact that hordes of people were following us and I didn't know if this was normal, but I might change back to normal any second. And since I only had a shirt on I didn't really want to grow at this instant.

We climbed the steps to the place door. I looked up to see how it was snowing inside. Lights danced at the top of the cavern and hung fluffy flakes of snow fell from the sky.

Two ogres stood next to the door. They were hung and had blue skin, beady black eyes trained on us. They opened the two doors for us and bowed there heads. When we passed through the doors they closed them, locking the mobs out and leaving us alone.

"Is it normal for people to do that here?" I ask Rowan. My voice was still small. It made me cringe inside. Fifty years is a long time to go through puberty twice.

"Only when you bring in a princess, sister." His lazy smirk made me uneasy.

We walked through the palace and I tried to memorize every single door and pass way we passed so I could know my way around when that thing tried to take them again. Creatures sat in the hall way playing games and everything was dark. They scattered when they saw us but there hungry eyes never left me.

"My boys, welcome home." Cried a feminine, not so welcoming voice. A lady sat on the throne, who I guess Is Mother. She was t tall and willowy like a lot of the sidhe that had tried to follow us. Instead she was curvy and filled out. Like us she had full mulberry lips and ink black hair that had been tied into an elaborate bun. Her skin was as pale as snow and she had long elegant fingers. She smiled at us and it lit up the room.

I realized where we all got our looks from. She is the kind of woman that man launch wars for and that girls cut themselves because they can't look as good. She was the impression of winter its self.

Sage, Rowan and Ash bowed. I did the. Best I could, being held in someone's arms.

When she wasn't in my sight I noticed tons of other kinds of creatures in the room. Creatures I recognized, after they gave me a small lesson on creatures, as Red Caps and Boogies and Goblins, the kind that almost killed me and bite Sage.

"Rise, my children." We did. And as soon as i looked at her again I was captivated. She wore a long, fluffy winter gown that was a mix of White, purple and black. Her black eyes settled on me. "Is this my Daughter?" She asked. "What happened to her?" Some of the cheer in her voice turned predatory.

"Goodfellow was there. He spilt a vile of Forever Young on her, Your Highness." Sage spoke. Faint snickers in the crowd echoed out.

She was silent for a moment. Not smiling or frowning. "Leave. I wish to speak to my children alone." Mom commanded to the fey crowd. They scattered and fled in less the a few seconds. "Tell me everything that happened."

So we did. All the way from me chasing Rowan to us walking through the front doors. They left out no detail and didn't even leave out the parts that made me dislike Rowan. The. She asked me why I ran away from my brothers. That wasn't hard to answer. I just didn't state my anger at her for risking them for me. And they didn't put in any details that had indicated that.

When we finished she sat there. "Ash. You are not to leave Palace grounds. No matter the situation. Maxilim will to take you from youngest to oldest. There is no question about that. Your sister, as nieve as she may be, will have to train to kill her father and the Serphent." A pause. She takes in our reactions. "You three will be in charge of her training, starting tomorrow. Tonight, we will have a ball to introduce Crystal to the Court. And remember children. The Court knows nothing about the deal or her God heritage. Keep It a secret."

**Alright! This is what I call a chapter! Though I think I didn't add enough detail to the winter Court. Did I? I tried to easy on it because I already spend so much of the chapter detailing and painting pictures with words.**


	6. Revan

"Back straight! Chin up!"

I stood in the center of my room while in the same puffy gown, trying to appear like I give a crap, and while madam Willow picked me appart for 'imperfections'. As soon as I was dismissed from Moms throne room she sent me to my room for lessons regarding Princess Manners.

Madam Willow was tall and willowy. She had grey hair and a youthful face. Willow wore a grey pencil suit bissness people wear and it showed off just how boney she is. This woman was not my favorite person. A few muinets after she got here I found worms from a rat boys muffled hair and put them in her pocket. She still hadn't found them and I was waiting patently for them to squirm out.

My room was as big as my old house and was fancy with a soft, extra large bed in the center and a huge window and balcony that over looked the guarden. In here I could practice my magic-excuse me, _Glamour_, and some sword fighting when they decide to train me tomorrow.

Madam Willow takes my jaw and snaps it shut forcefully. I wince. My teeth clicked together uncomfortably. "Breath through your nose or do not breath at all." She ordered me.

So far she had ordered me to keep my head high, not to slouch, pick up my feet wher I walk, look at someone when I was talking to them, do not talk to someone unless giving an order, do not say please when giving an order because it implies that they are en equal, and a thousand other little things I had did since I was born.

The feeling of stretching and loose skin flooded through me again. I grew and grew until the fabric of the glamoured dress tore and then I grew some more. Soon I was at eye level with madam Willow. She didn't even blink.

I look down and see myself in my shirt and underwear. Nothing else. My hands tug my shirt down so she wouldn't see my blue boxers.

Willow struts over to the pile of clothes she and rat boy brought. "Queen Mab warned me this might happen." She drawled and pulled out a dress randomly from the pile, held it in front of me and examined us before going back to repeat the process several times. All the while I was worried that that thing might try to take Ash again. Maybe the Winter Queen was strong enough to hurt it, and if she is then the entire Court must be able to kill it.

She thrusted a gown in my hands. "Put this on." Her face was wrinkled like she smelt something fowl. Then she glanced down at her pocket and tried to rub the blood stains from her suit. She must have smashed the worms somehow. "Stupid rat." She muttered and strutted out of the room.

Frowning at the heavy dress and Lady's underwear she gave me I dropped it and proceeded with putting on the fabric. Outside of the room I could hear her roaring and small screaming and stomping. I laughed. That turned out better then I expected.

After trying a thousand different ways to not put on tights and a dress I finally got it so It was on right...I think. The back of the corset needed to be tied and I couldn't reach, let alone see what I was tying. Was I suppose to do that before I put it on?

A pair of cold hands take the strings from the corset from me and begin tying. "So why do I need to wear these dresses?" I asked Willow. I could move a lot easier if I was in some pants or gym shorts. And if I try to bow or curtsy then ill probably fall flat on my face like I did the last fifty times. At least I could do it my own age.

She jerked it tightly and then tied the knot at the top of the dress. "Because," said a deep male voice from behind. "you look so much better when your not in pajamas."

My eyes widen. I spin around and see a fey boy standing there. The irises of his eyes were an icy purple and his skin was blue like he had drowned. The stark white tux he had matched the color of the room. Black hair fell around his face in layered spikes.

"Who are you and what are you doing in my room?" I hissed at him and put my hands up to freeze him against the wall.

He smirked. "Pup, I'm your new guardian."

Using the moisture in the room I push him violently across the room and onto the bed, soaking and freezing him onto the mattress. "Guardian?" He couldn't be serious. I do not need a guardian.

But he's a fey. He can't lie. Mom must have assigned him to me.

He nods and melts the ice around him. "You can call me Revan."

I step back as he stood on the bed. I was slightly disturbed that he could melt my ice. "Im a Godling. Do you really think I need protection from the likes of you?" It crossed my mind that I shouldn't have told him that, but to late now. I just hope Mom doesn't find out.

"I already knew what you are, Pup. And if you knew how to control your powers then you would be as powerful as the Queen. But, since you can't even freeze me to a bed-" He stops and grins. "Like that anyway, your about as strong as a baby. Not to mention your still recovering from the Mortal world."

"No ones going to want to hurt me. I'm there Princess. I'm _your _princess."

Revan steps up to me with his arms crossed. There was something strange about the way his eyes looked. They aren't cold and distant like the lot of people here. They held a...fire, if you will. "Do you really want to know about the Winter Court?"

I didn't nod. But he explained it anyway. How they are going to want to test me to see if I am strong enough to be there Princess. That if I annoyed the wrong person I could be eaten, cursed, or maimed. The way this Court worked fascinated me. I did expect it to be a little less lethal but at hearing just how violent it is I understood why my brothers are why they are. And knowing I could be killed at a moments notice gave me a rush. Getting use to this place might not be as difficult as I thought.

Revan leaned in close. His lips brushed my ear and I thought about tearing them off. At the same time it sent a flutter through me. I wasn't scared of him, was I?

The soft air brushes my ear and tickles my neck. His low, deep warm voice was gruff and smooth. My heart pounded in my chest. No one ever got this close before. All he would have to do is whip out a knife and I would be done for. Even with that possibility, though, I was stuck there and couldn't find the will to move exept my hand, which searched for my missing back pocket for my blade. So we stood there, our bodies so close they almost touched.

Finally, he whispered, "Save me a dance."

I swollowed, not able to form a snarky comeback or an insult. Something about him defiantly made me nervouse. But was it all a bad thing?

Revan backed up and unabashedly took in my expression. When he saw how out of sorts I must have been he grinned like a hungry wolf and winked before he was engulfed in flames and smoke, disappearing before my eyes.

"That guy is just not right." I muse to myself. What kind of Winter Fey disappeared in flames?

My knees felt weak and I sat on the bed that was now damp with water. Every thought in my head was fighting to get back to him and replay how close he was. Was this what fear of people felt like? Or was it because he looked like he had been drowned?

"Alright, Princess, Its time to do your hair." Madam Willow strode in with blood on her clothes. She touched my hair as if picking up a worm. Giving me a dirty glare and snapping my mouth shut with her claws, she took in my dress.

It was a black dress that had dark purple and blue streaks that made it look like black ice. The ragged edges were styled to look like I had just grow. Out of the top of a frozen lake and was now frosty like a Winter Princess should be. Still, I groaned inwardly at wearing a dress. All dresses are hideous.

10101010101010101

Mom haddnt met me before the party. She was sitting on her throne and watching over the crowd with her gorges head held high. The room was already filled to the wall with Fey and there were plenty more in the Court yard doing wild acts that I seriously wanted to get a better look at by the time everything was over. Mostly, though, the throne room was filled with all of the head people of the Court. I think Revan called them Dukes and Duchesses.

"Now Princess, do everything I taught you. Do not disappoint or make a fool of your mother. Or me for that matter." Willow had put her hair up in a high pony tail where the tips were jagged and frosted. She claimed since my hair was so set in one way she couldn't put it in a extremely over board style that everyone would like.

The only reason why I was going to do as she said was because my mom had ordered me to. Or else I would be in sweat pants and a snuggie, up to my neck in Halo 2 and talking with my Xbox buddies. Not to mention a crap ton of pop.

I do as madam Willow instructed. Hold my head held high, back straight, closed mouth, and do what I hope is a graceful, princess like strut into the Ball room. Every eye turns to me. Mom sat on her throne and all of the nobles, who had been talking and dancing, turned to stair at me with friendly. It was strange how there seemed to be very few women in the crowd who gave me kind looks. But the men gave me all sorts of looks. Ones that made me squirm.

I curtsy lightly, trying not to show just how much they made me uncomfortable. At least in my school I had always gone unnoticed and wouldnt have to do these rediculous things to look presentable.

"Welcome, Princess Crystal." One man said and steped forward, extending his hand. Like everyone here he had a perfect complexion. Too perfect. White hair and white skin, black lips that twisted into a kind, polite smile.

Everything that Willow taught me faded under the pressure. So I did what Hala taught me and grabbed his hand firmly, and shook. A hand shake. It was all I could think to do.

He looked confused, the. His eyes lit up in understanding. "A very human," the word human sounded mocking. "gesture, Princess."

Willow squeaked, then mom was scowling at her. Mom raised her slim hand wand encased her in ice. Right after a guard appeared and pushed her off. I got a last glance at the frozen figure in the ice. Her facal features were horrified and a hand went over her mouth that looked like it had been screaming.

I bit down a vindictive smile.

"Let the festivities begin." Mom declared. Everyone began dancing and music streamed iut of no where. Lights bobbed between dancers and people eyes me, whispering behind there hands.

Mom gave me a frosty look and waved me over. I had walked up to her doing my princess walk.

"Yes, Queen Mab?" Sage and Rowan stood next to her. Rowan held that lazy smirk and Sage held no expression. It disturbed me when I noticed that Ash was not here.

"Do not do any of those human gestures in Court." Her black eyes narrowed unhappily. "Ever again."

"Yes, Queen Mab." I nod. Moms frosty edge stung. Shouldnt she at least be a little happy to see me?

"Now go. All of you. Enjoy the Ball."

Sage and Rowan left wordlessly, sinking into the crowd with ease and began to socialize. I turned and slammed into a white tux. The dress pulled me back and almost sent me to the ground. Two hands steadied me. I looked up and saw Revan looking down at me.

He held out his hand casually. "Wanna dance?"

**Okay, I really struggled with this one. The ball feels like it should have been bigger but I didnt know what circumstances call for what. Google is a mystery to me...**

**So I know not a lot happened but I need to know something about, you my readers.**

**How do you feel about kissing? Because I really tend to go into much detail and do border line leamons. Unlike my sister, the one whom perviously owned this account and was responsible for a great chunk of the mushy comments, I am not afraid to do Hot and Heavy make out scenes.**

**So tell me where you want the bar set.**

**Light. A quick peck and a caress.**

**Normal. Kissing that isn't all dry humps but has actual phisical contact.**

**Heavy. Tongue, groping, moaning, the old Everything But Sex. **

**Please leave an honest review.**


	7. Pack

That evening Revan took me for a dance was strange. He wasn't like all of the other nobles that were begging me to let them do me a favor, to make a bargain I couldn't refuse, to accept some kind of gift. I was about to agree to a couple because they sounded like a solid. But when ever I was about to say yes Revan would cut in the dance and then we would spend another few minuets of him telling me just how they were going to trick me and him steping on my feet, constantly.

Ash had showed up late. He was spending time where he was often out of my sight and in the masses someone could have taken him. You could call it an interesting night.

After the party was when Ash had pulled me aside and told me that training begins. All three of them took me to a large, isolated room and handed me two scimitars. There method of teaching is harsh. Once they taught me how to hold them and how to stand they took turns with one on one combat. In a dress it was hard. And it pissed me off.

Days passed by like that. They would spend half of the day beating me with swords and taught me hand to hand combat. The rest of the days were spent teaching me glamour. That was the hardest. It took me days to learn how to do something with glamour besides throw snow balls and making it snow. Still, I'm getting stronger. Every ounce of strength I get is going to make Ashs security even greater. However, I was lacking in controlling my fire and force field abilities. My god powers were lacking in training.

When it was time for bed I almost never made it to the bed. I just collapsed on the floor. My muscles twitched and I could barely keep my eyes open as the time wore on into who knows how long. Time didn't flow like normal in Faery. Neither did logic, though it made a strange sort of sense. As time stretched on there was reports of infiltration in the edges of the Winter Territory. That was around the time I learned how to make a snow tornado out of glamour.

Ash never showed he was afraid. He still held the same amount of patience and never pushed me to hard, but that's not to say he didn't push me to do more and try to teach me more. Mother would come to check on my progress every now and again. She would watch us practice and give me a bitter scowel, then leave is alone. That hurt. But she didn't need to say anything, I knew I wasn't improving fast enough. So I trained harder, pushed my self to go faster, to be perfect. I even dreamt that we were practicing.

My God abilities were never trained so they were the weakest part of me. And I hated it. No one here knew enough to teach me and if I tried to practice them then they would do something radical like drain my energy completely. It was so easy back home. But I never had to hold them up against something.

Right now, I was in my room, trying to sleep on the hard, shinny floor. This practice session I just wore black pants and a grey sports bra(the ones you wear with out a shirt). Having to much clothes on slowes me down. Especially those damned dresses I have to wear when ever there's some Nobel who wants to speak with me or when there's a social gathering I had to learn to supervise.

My hair Was no longer long. Rowan had chopped it off on acident when we were sparring. My fault, I guess. Should have ducked sooner. When he chopped it it was uneven and couldn't be put into a style, which only made it get in the way when fighting, so I cut even more off. It wound up looking like a spiky mohawk, and mom wasn't happy about it because it didn't look nice.

Someone lifts me up by the back of my legs and by my back. My eyes burned when I tried to open them. He set me on a soft, comfortable surface and sat next to me.

"Ash was taken." He whispered.

Sleep pulled at me and kept me down when I stirred to get out of bed and go after him. _No! _I screamed inside of my head. But it only came out of my mouth as a faint mumble.

A hand held my cheek. It was warm and calloused. The warmth was calming and sent me into sleep.

10101010101010101

"Wake up."

I opened my sandy eyes. Sage was standing over me. "It's time to go on a hunting trip."

The Hunting trip. He wanted to take me on one for experience. Sparring with teachers is one thing that doesn't give much experiance and actually hunting, killing, is another. We werent going to go out of the Unseelie territory to far, since we need to beable to get back to the Palace if it was an emergency. Sage wasnt in danger of being taken yet. It was Rowan's turn to be scared. Still, I hate leaving Rowan behind and not being able to protect him if something tries to take him.

_You didn't protect Ash. What makes you think your good enough? What makes you think your a good protector? Ash was stolen with out your knowledge._

I bristle at the comments I made in my head. But they are right. I'm not a good protector.

"So what are we hunting?" I walk over to my dresser and begin to pick out a hunting uniform.

"We are not hunting."

What? Did I hear him right? He just said it was time for a hunting trip. "What do you mean? Your my teacher." I turn to face him, holding a black tunic in my hands. Light flew in from the balcony, reflecting off the icy chandelier and making every thing glitter softly.

"I can not go. Queen Mab has ordered me to search the area for anymore intruders, and Rowan is no longer allowd to venture beyond the castle walls, so someone else will be taking you."

He doesnt say for a moment. "You already know him. He is waiting outside of your room." Without another word Sage leaves.

Oh, dear lord, I hope it's not that weird ass Duke of Frostfell. The guy keeps on droning on and on about his part of the Court and is constantly trying to get me to wear his necklace that he bought for me. He's way to old for me! I'm only 15, though I look like I could be seventeen because of my accelerated growth that fey naturally have.

Once I'm dressed in a black tunic and hunting pants, being sure to bring my arsenal of knives and a bow, that I have practiced with a small bit, and leave my glistening room.

Outside, standing a modest distance away from my door, was The Duke of Frostfell. He was in a fancy white hunting uniform and had jewels for buttions on his flashy coat. Frost colored eyes took me in with interest and looked like the happiest person alive. And, in his azure colored hand, was that damned ruby necklace.

"Princess Crystal." He bows deeply.

I forgot him name. It was something long and complicated. "Duke of Frostfell." I greeted and hoped it was one of those acceptable things.

"Please, princess, call me Salem." He held out that necklace. "Please, accept this gift."

Damn, I was stuck. I had to take it so I wouldn't be rude and then he would expect me to wear it.

He held it out a littler farther.

My hand moves to take it. Just before my hand takes it Salem was knocked down the hall, taking the silver necklace with him. Down the hall, about ten feet, he lay on the ground in a giant snow ball.

My lips quiver. Before I could stop it a huge smile broke onto my face and I laughed. The first real laugh in a long time. Then I felt guilty. Why should I be laughing when my brother is missing somewhere? But still, that was funny.

"Hey, Pup." Revan walked up. He also wore a make shift hunting uniform. No shirt, revealing a well muscled body, Brown leather boots, blue jeans, and a black leather coat that was open and had no sleeves. Revan glances at Salem and grins. "Man, I'm a good shot."

Salem shoots up and draws his double edged sword. Snow scatter everywhere and stuck to his clothes. "You!" He rasped and marched forward.

Revan had his black hair pulled back into a short braid. He put his hands up mockingly and joked, "Come on now, Frosty, let's not take a joke to seriously."

"How dare you make a fool of me! Insolent whelp!" Salem raised his sword to swing.

I step in front of the sword swing, making Salem hault in his tracks and erase his harsh expression. There was no way Im going on a hunting trip with him all by myself if I could help it.

"Princess?" He asks.

"You will not harm my hunting partener." A quick explosion of pride and joy filled the air behind me. I could feel him beaming.

"But-but-" he studders and lowers his sword.

Trying to do my best imitation of Mom I narrow my eyes and put of a cold front. "Are you questioning me?" I step forward, making him step back. I absolutely love being a Princess. You can boss people around and they actually listen!

Salem was quick to answer. "No, Princess. Of course not." He did not argue further. Salem seethed his sword and held a stone expression. He no longer tried to shove that necklace into my hands. I had a feeling he wasn't buddy buddy with Revan. "So is..._He_ coming with us on our excursion?"

"Yeah. He _is _myhunting partener_." _There was no question that I was going to doeverything possible to keep away from being alone with him. So yes, my new found hunting partener is coming with us.

"As you wish, your highness."

I turn to Revan. He was still grinning, flashing pointy teeth in the darkness. "Let's go." We walk down the corridors for about ten feet, Salem not making the slightest attempt to be friendly and Revan walking like he owned the place. It was kind of annoying. But I didn't comment on it out of politeness and because he might leave me alone with that Duke.

"Oh, Salem, I almost forgot to tell you something."

In a tight voice Salem responded. "It's Duke Salem, to you."

"Aren't you going to ask what I needed to tell you? It's pretty important." He teases.

Salem sighes. "What is it?"

Revan puffed up his chest and accounte with pride, "Someone set your house on fire."

101010101010101

After that announcement Salem left instantly after politely excusing himself. If was a God send. The coincidence piqued my curiosity. A fire in the middle of winter, a Fey who vanishes in a swirl of fire and who isn't as cold as a block of ice? It's not hard to figure out that he did it. But what is his deal? He's not normal.

Then again, neither am I. I never was normal. Maybe that's why I kind of like him. Two abnormalities come together as friends.

_Friends_? Hardly. Acquaintances as best. Besides, the only reason he's here is because Mom ordered him to protect me. He doesn't care. All he wants to do is please his Queen.

We take a couple of hourses and ride out of Tir Na Nog, heading straight for the Wyldwood. He wasn't comfortable useing a hourse, and neither was I, but it was the fastest way to get anywhere. If we ran then we would be to tired to hunt once we got to the Wyld. It took us a long time to reach the edge of Winter territory. We reached a deep cliff that had only a frozen bridge going across that was almost to big for hourses. But before we crossed, Revan pulled us to a stop.

"Get off the hourse. We're going on foot from here." He jumped off of the hourse.

It was snowing lightly. Every snowflake sang as they went down, stopping once they hit the soft, fluffy ground. The trees at the edge of the territory were partly covered in snow and partly had leaves on them. It was warmer here too. Not bitter cold but nippy. Stuff that humans could survive in without freezing.

I slid off of the rough sattle and streatch, relishing in how good it felt to stand on my own to feet. "Why on foot?" Not that I loved riding hourses. It was just weird that we didn't ride them out of the territory and keep them near us. Because what if we lost them? It would take a long time to get back to Court.

"Because I'm going to teach you about your second nature instead of how to be a Fey. We can't do that if we're hunting on those things." He reguards the hourses with distaste.

"And how would you know about having God powers?"

"Your not a Godling, kid. Your father isn't even truely related to the Gods. People just refer to Maxilim as a brother of Zues because they were once friends." He walks over to me, evaporating the snow under his heavy step. The hourses fled in terror, back from where we came. "Maxilim is the head Spirit Wolf."

He grabs my hands. The coolness to his skin from when we first met was gone. Now it was warm and tough. It wasn't a light touch. He was holding them hard. I tried to yank my hands back for my own personal space, but he held. Then he changed.

His blue skin darkened and turned into the natural color of light brown. The frimiliar purple eyes lost there color and turned into a light blue, almost white. His height grew a few inches so he was now taller and broder then me. I reeled backwards. Instead of pointy ears he now had rounded ones. Revan wasn't a Fey. He was a shapeshifter of some kind.

Revan was one of them! He was one of those people working for my father! "Who are you?" I demanded. A thousand accusations and angry thought flooded my mind. "Was that why you took me out here? You wanted to take me?" I felt a sense of betrayal for a reason I couldnt place.

His face hardedned at the accusation. "No. I wanted to tell you when there were no prying eyes. If I told you back at Court someone wouldve alerted the Queen what I was and I would have been executed." The pressure on my hands built. The training my brothers gave me screamed at me to fight. But I couldn't summon the will to do it. I trust him. "You don't belong there, pup. You belong with me. We're Pack."

"Pack?"

He nodded. "Didnt you feel the connection? The unexplainable trust? We're drawn to eachother. It's our nature as Spirit Wolves."

Nature? Pack? This is too much. How am I suppose to believe this? "Stop." He did. Revan waited for my reaction and no longer wore that hardened expression.

The stone face I tried to keep broke. My eyebrows came together and my voice was strained. "Your nuts. Pack? What-no! That doesn't make any sense." Even now I couldn't find the will to pull away. If he let go then I might not even run.

"It's true. You know it is. Why else are you so devoted to family? You always laughed at people's pain, even when you were just a kid. But you always, always stood by your family. We're family."

"How do you know what I was like when I was a kid? We never met before the day I came here!"

"Remember? You followed me into the woods after school and tried to see where I live. You stayed behind me the entire night and followed me back to school. I was your baby sitter when you were five. I would take you for walks in the night and you would catch baby deer in the spring." The memories played in his eyes, as if he were watching them again and enjoying the trip down memory lane. "I was the Raven that took the Saint-Johns-Wort down from the trod I created. I was Kevin, your old babysitter. I was even your grandfathers nefew, Freddy."

Disbelief crippled me. He had been stalking me all my life. I had always been the one who was the shaddow, who was the sneaky one, who was the one no one noticed. But I hadn't even noticed my own shaddow. He could have killed me anytime. But he didn't. "Why are you here?" I whispered.

"Didn't I already explain that?" He whispered in return, softening his grip on my hands. "We are Pack," He let go of my hands, sliding his up the back of my arms until he held my shoulders. "We belong together."

My heard pounded. The tiny part of me wanted this. Revan didn't lie when he said that we shared a connection. And I didnt find it entirely creepy that he stalked me through my life, but rather flattered. Then there was the larger part of me. The one that said no to him._ Love is a weakness. Never forget that. _

Revan moved closer, his lips hovering an inch from mine.


	8. Robin Goodfellow

Revan's hot breath tickled my skin, sending chills down my back and had my senses buzzing. He moved his arms so they wrapped around me, pressing us against each other, and my hands involuntarily go around his waist. Neither one of us could speak. The soft, smooth feel of his lips brushed mine, as light as a moths wing, but he waited.

He smelled so good, a mix of smoke and something heavy, like pheromones. Opening my mouth slightly, I was tempted to lean forward, because I knew then that I trusted him completely and with out question. He leaned forward more, his breath speeding. His body was ridged, as was mine. We were both nearly trembling from repressing ourselves.

"I can't." I whispered, trying to find a reason to pull back, to not get involved.

"You can." He kisses the side of my mouth and trails a line of fire down my neck. I lean back and moan.

Then, the strong sent of blood assaulted my nose. Human blood.

Instantly my canines grew along with my claws. _Hunt. Kill. _Whispered a voice in my head_._ Revan nibbled on my ear lobe. A rush of instincts flooded in. Somewhere out there there is a wounded human, fighting hopelessly for there life against something bigger and stronger. And I want the human.

"Revan..." I had to get out of him arms. But under the ecstasy of simply feeling him was drawing my attention as well. His hands glide to my hips and I grip his hair, softly tugging. He lifts his head and our lips brush again, but this time I couldn't resist.

I lean forward and kiss him. His toung lightly swipes past my lower lip, i open my mouth, inviting him in. Revan didn't hesitate. His toung explored my mouth...

And felt my fangs.

We stop. He pulls back and looks at me curiously.

"What is it?"

_Hunt! Kill the human! _My instincts scream. In the distance, from the Wyldwood, came the humans scream. Revans eyes widden and he sniffs the air. "Let's go."

We charge over the bridge of ice and plunge into the Wyld at full speed. Briars cut my clothes and I jumped over sticks and roots and vaulted over rocks. Revan ran beside me and moved slightly slower then i. As we got closer the smell of sweat and blood got stronger. The stronger it got the faster I moved. It wasn't long before I could no longer see Revan.

I stopped. The human was at my feet, cut to pieces by a sword. The humans eyes appeared to be cut out and the sochets were still bleeding furiously. I growl. If I'd gotten here sooner then I could have killed him! I dunk my fingers in his still warm blood, longing for the feel of his heart beat.

My fangs and claws retract, knowing I lost the Hunt. If there was no one to chase then using them would be utterly useless.

The ground here was sticky and thick, like mud. I look around and notice that there was mist everywhere, trees half sunken and large roots sticking out of the ground. No doubt I was in a bog. My feet sank slowly as I was still on somewhat solid ground. Large bones portruded out of the bogs floor and reached to the sky, there bleached whiteness practically glowing.

Whistling came from my front. The sound was light and quiet.

I moves aside instantly, a dagger flew past me. I stood rock still, listening to the loud _thunk_ of it burrying its self into the tree behind me. Peering in the direction of the dagger stood no one. Everything was silent as it someone pressed mute on there TV. The light dimmed, casting dark shadows and brightening where it shown.

I look back at the dagger, that was covored in the same, dark, sweet smelling blood of the human. What ever through that dagger was dangerous and on out there, watching me. My hand grips the dagger and I pull it out of the tree, slip into the dark shadows, and prowl into the bog.

To my right I could see a sillowett of a man. Messy hair and a lanky, built frame. In one of his hands he held another dagger. I braced myself for him to spin on me and throw it, to have to roll out of the way and to return his other weapon to his neck. The boy didn't. He continued to move quietly towards where I had been.

Then there was the same sillowett to my left, doing the same thing as the first. The one to the left had both daggers, and was moving towards me. I slip beneath a tree, waiting for him to come closer. If, and when, he threw his daggers at me, I could use the tree for cover while I attack.

He got closer and closer, my heart pounding while my adrenalin kicked in. In just a few more steps he would be on top of me. My hand started to sweat, gripping the handel. He got close enough to where I could see some color. Brown leather boots, hunter green pants, and a brown hoody. Something about him seemed vaguely familiar.

_Where is Revan? _

_Revan_. He didn't know about them. If he came here and didn't know to fight then they would kill him before he could blink.

I think back to the kiss. It had felt so right...and _he_ was right about the connection. Still, it was a mistake. It had to be. Im a fey, a Winter Fey, we don't love...do we?

_Focus!_

The man passed, not noticing I was here, and he continued to the spot where I had grabbed the dagger. I crouch and slip out of the shadows, creeping behind him like Sage had taught me. _Do not attack on sight. Follow until you are directly behind him. _Andhe didn't notice. I crept up right behind him and stood, raising the dagger and aim for his neck while my arm tenses, and in one swift motion I wrap my arm around his neck, holding him as he reeled, and jam the curved blade deeply across him neck.

No blood was spilt. He fell apart in my arms, disappearing into twigs and leaves before my eyes. I gasp, not knowing how someone could do that.

Several joyous whoops echoed out from all directions. I panic, raising the dagger that was now a large twig in my hand. Through the mist several of the same boys charged at me, wielding there daggers and shouting taunts.

I collected my glamour and shoved it down, imagining it covering and freezing the bog. When I was done the ground was as smooth as an ice rink, glittering under the light. The boys slip and slid, trying to stay on there feet and run towards me. Like an Ice Skater, I move around them, dodging daggers and vanishing into the shadows, only to reappear in another location. With my bow and arrows I fire at them, they dodge or disappear Into more leaves and twigs.

One jumps at me, preparing to stab. Swinging low, he passes over me, and another one tackles me to the ground, holding my throat to the ice, pointing his dagger above, ready to deliver a death blow. I coat him in a layer of ice, freezing him into place. While his doppelgängers jumped onto the roots and moved steadily towards us I slide out from under the one who pinned me down, shoving him to the side. They advanced at me all at once, leering and smirking.

Vines erupted from beneath the Ice, twisting around my limbs and stomach, entangling me in a giant snare. Thorns spiked off of the sides and pricked into my skin. The vines tightened so hard that all of the breath was forced out of me, my eyes bulged from my head and my limbs felt as if they might snap. They came down onto the Ice, walking calmly toward me without slipping.

I squirmed violently to get out._ They were going to kill me! _And the more I struggled the tighter it got. I whimpered loudly, unable to stop myself and feeling ashamed for doing it.

All but one of them climbed on a vine, dangling and sitting, hanging upside down. The one who didn't climb onto a vine stood in front of me at eye level, handing out a smug look.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't Ice-Girl." He drawled, crossing his arms. He looked at my body. "You've grown like a weed, you know that? Last time I saw you you were no taller then a sapling."

Green eyes, annoying persona, and a snarky attitude: I knew just who this was. It was Ashs archrivel, jester of the Summer Court, murderer of Ariella, the jack ass who poured Forever Young on me. _Robin Goodfellow_.

He rambled on, "And you would not believe how much fun it was to see the look on your face when you realized how young you were." He looked up and smiled, remembering. Robin sighed in pleasure. "Good times."

"Are you done chatting? Come on, Robins still stuck in the ice!" Called another Robin that sat on a vine.

Another one laughed. "But thats not even the real Robin. I'm the real Robin."

"No, I am."

"Uh, guys, we all know its me."

"Ha! Yeah right! Like you copy cats could ever look this sexy."

I growled._ No wonder everyone wants him dead_. At least the pain from the vines distracted me along with the lack of air. They all bickered on who was real and who was the doppelgänger, completely forgetting about the one in the ice, who was proabaly starving for air. Unfortunately, they turned the attention of there argument to me.

"Who do you think is the real Robin?" One asked, plopping an arm loosely around my shoulder and looking at me with big, innocent eyes.

Another one hung upside down in front of me. "Just tell them its me. 'Cause really, Im obviously the smartest."

A different Goodfellow said. "Which one of us do you think it is, Icy?"

"Yeah! Tell us!"

"Take a guess! But I'm the strongest."

"Im the quickest."

"Who cares? I'm the sexyist." That one strut out in front of me and struck a ridiculously provocative pose with no shirt on, winking at me lasciviously.

**Lascivious: (of a person, gesture, or manner) feeling or revealing an overt and often offensive sexual desire. **

**See? When you read you get smarter!**

My teeth pressed together in a death grip, but through the intense pressure I managed to rasp, "You...have nothing...to worry about. Your all...just...as annoying."

All of there smirks and gleeful expressions turn to straight faces. They all stop what ever pose they were doing and cross there arms. "Hey!" They all whine in protest. Seven of them burst Into twigs and leaves, including the one inside of the Ice, until one remained. That one was the one who hadn't climbed into the vines. He staired at me blandly.

"Well now, there's no reason to be rude, Icy." He crosses his arms and huffed playfully. "And here I thought we were starting to become friends."

"Let...me..down."

My vision clouded with black, my lungs burning for oxygen and relief. I was ready to pass out. His form swishes slightly.

"Only if I get to introduce myself Properly, and ask a question in return."

"Robin! Let her go!" Called a familiar voice. He stood beside Robin and held him two inches above the ground by the collar of his hoody, snarling in his face.

Instantly the vines retreated into the ground, dropping me harshly onto the ice. My lungs worked furiously to get air back into me, my heart hurting from the rapid movement and sudden freedom. Soon my vision returned to normal, but it hurt to move. The dramatic shadows stopped and went into a lighter state.

Revan kneeled down beside me and held me in his arms. His light blue eyes starred down at me, closely. Our bond was almost a physical thing, like we were literally joined.

"She'll be fine in a few minuets, Wolf, don't worry." his voice grew serious. "I need to know. Is It true? Is Ash gone?"

Why should be care? He murdered his love and tries to kill him! Robin is his archrival, there is no reason as to why they would care for one another."Why do you care, _Summer_?" I coughed out.

He paused. "Because I owe him that much." He did t smile, laugh, or make any attempt to joke. His emeral eyes swirled with regret, then it vanished. Still, he made no move to be anything other then serious.

_Ah, so that's it. A debt. No wounded why a summer, enemy of my Court, cares for My brother, who he stabbed in the back._ I felt a flare of anger at him for even bothering. Ash Is my family, not his.

"I needed to know. If he's gone then I need to know."

I wasnt about to answer him. Ash would want his head on a pike. And if he didn't want to do it himself then I would do it right here, right now.

"Yes, he's gone. Maxilim took him last night." Revan answered him, cradling me close to his warm chest. The sound of him breathing was so calming it was unbelievable. I looked up at him, how close he was, only a few inches away. But it was wrong. All wrong. Kissing him was the biggest mistake of my life. The biggest, most reckless, completely best mistake i could have ever made.


	9. Anger

Puck had grilled us for details about Ash's disappearance. Where had he been taken, who had taken him, why had they taken him, why we're not answering, and a dozen other things. We couldn't tell him because if word got out about what I was then Summer might do something rash, like they always do. And they could easily attack if they knew the Winter Court was weak. All that, and this is a family matter.

Walking hurt, especially since we had to duck and maneuver through the bog, twisting our bodies and bending ribs: no doubt that mine were going to have bruises and that my legs and arms were soar. I tried to walk on my own, needing to be separated from Revan, all because I didn't want to lead him on. I have a mission to accomplish and there is no room for love in an Unseelie princess's life.

Revan refused to let me walk. He picked me up like he did when he td me Ash was gone, not even caring about my kicking and protests. He held me easily and had no struggle in keeping me still. All the while, Puck being the jokester he is, teased me and made obnoxious comments. I had no idea how they knew each other.

Needless to say, the Hunt was over before it began. We weren't going back to Court however. They made a camp in an abandoned building next to a spring and in the middle of the woods. Puck had lead us here, claiming that It was perfectly safe from other Court dangers.

The home was a humble, one story, log cabin.

"Come on, Love Birds, we can talk inside." He teased and walked in.

I looked up to Revan, who still held me, and whispered, "Are you really going to trust him?"

He carried me inside. The inside was cozzy and it looked like a home. Woods walls, lots of plant life, a bed in the corner, and a couch on the other side of the house. Everything was lit by a few candels, warming the house. Foxes and Rabbits slept underneath the plants and it smelled strongly of Summer nights.

Robin flopped down on the cot and put his arms behind his head, relaxing back into that nonchalaunt smirk. "Welcome to my humble abode."

"Alright, Puck, what do you want to know?" Revan asked, surprising me. The door shut on its own, making me feel trapped. Next to Robins bed was a window, guarded by a fat raccoon.

"What? We can't tell him! Queen Mab ordered us not to." He sat down on the couch and allowed me to slid off of him. I sat on the opposite side of the couch and boggled at him.

Robin closed his eyes, a fox curling up on his lap to sleep. "Oh let's see, out of all of the questions I already asked, which one seems like the best place to start? Oh, I know! How about you start by telling me when Ice-Boy was taken?"

Revan opens his mouth to speak, but i beat him to it. "How about you go back to Summer and stay out of Winter affairs?" If this imbicile thinks I'm going to be polite then he's even dumber then I thought. No way am I going to help the like of him find my brother. He's hurt him enough.

"Crystal."

Revans voice was cold and hard. Nothing like it was when he was speaking to me, holding me. His presence swelled, dwarfing everything else in comparison. He made no move to show aggression. The lit of his eyes worked well enough. Pucks eyes shot open and glared at me, like little green slits.

Out mached and alone, I huff, turning my eyes away from them and gingerly crossing my arms to avoid the pain. They stare for a long moment, then continue there conversation.

Why should Puck even far to know? When I go on the mission to rescue my brother it's going to be alone. No one is coming with me, not even my mother. She needs to stay safe at any cost, and I can't keep them all safe if they just throw themselves into hell. I could never stop myself from fantasizing, when I found out my mother wasn't proud to have me in Court, actually admitting it to Rowan when she thought I wasn't listening, that I'm going to go on some grand, difficult adventure that I have to do alone. To kill the Black serpent and kill Maxilim, cut out there hearts, and bring Ash home.

Then they'll all be damn proud of me.

She wasn't proud of me for a lot of reasons. The main one was because I wasn't a full Fey. Other one were like: To human, lack of discipline, I was a horrable Princess. She praises her sons on there work in training me, looks at me like I'm dirt, and its down right painful.

_Stop your crying, you ungreatful whelp. Be greatful they didn't leave you in the mortal world to rott_. A voice in my head said. M_aybe if you didn't whine so much they would like you more._

"When are you going to get Ash back?" Puck asks. Revan hadnt said anything, his gaze bore into the back of my neck, feeling more and more uncomfortable the longer he staired.

The feeling of him staring got intense. My back itched to move, to get his focus on something else. "As soon as I'm done with my training." The phrase was curt and clean, and only there so just maybe his burning eyes would be somewhere else other then me. But he kept staring.

Finaly, he said something. "I think it's time we left, Goodfellow. Better get that one back to Court." The weight on the couch shifted towards my side, along with the sound of sliding fabric.

I stand up, doing my best to ignore the intense pain, and give a cold nod to Robin, who stared at me with that constant Joking expression. I leave the house, forgetting about Revan calling me back so he could carry me again. Each step I took hurt like a mother. But the farther I was from Robin, the closer I was to Court, the better its going to be for all of us.

"What is with you? Ever since you took off to protect that human you've been really bitchy."

My eyes widden. "Bitchy?!" I whirl on him. He stands over me and takes a step forward, trying to establish some kind of dominance. "I'm not the one who threw himself onto a girl who didn't even want to kiss him!" I shove him, only pushing him back a few inches. "And I never wanted to protect that stupid _human_. I was _hunting_ him." Involuntarily, my teeth extend again, claws growing inches long.

His eyes glowed. "We do not hunt humans. _Ever_." He steped up again, grabbing my wrists roughly, right where the bruises were. I winced.

His eyes softened, if only a bit, and he dropped them.

"What do you mean, we? I'll hunt what ever I want."

"We as in Spirit Wolves. It's our job to protect and guide humans."

In an angry growl I retort, "Im not just a Spirit Wolf. I'm a fey to. And Fey don't care about humans. So don't talk to me like I'm suppose to act like one of you."

I crossed my arms, trying to protect them from being grabbed again, looking down. My wrists were covered in dark blue and black bruises that throbbed painfully. But Fey heal faster. They should be good to go once we reach the edge of the Wyldwood.

A swirl of regret filled the air in front of me. "Hey," Revan said, reaching out to touch my cheek.

I drifted away from him, giving us space. There is no way I am talking to him, especially after he said I was being bitchy. Even if I was, I had a point. And if you really care about someone then you just don't call them bitchy. "Don't touch me. Don't talk to me. Leave me alone."

10101010101010101

We reach the edge of the Wyldwood, right where we came in. Our tracks were visible. Revan hadn't talked to me or made any move to touch. As soon as the ground had snow starting to cover it he had slipped back into his Winter Fey form. As soon as we got back to Mom I knew I should turn him in, or just kill him. But I wouldn't. Wether I liked it or not I had a connection with him. It was more then trust. It was like finding a member of your family that you never knew existed. And right now, it sucked.

I was mad at him for what he said and because he told Puck what he did and had forced himself on me, when I clearly said that I didn't want to. Even after that though, he had saved me from being crushed my vines, saved me from having to hunt with Salem, carried me when it hurt to walk, and had actually knew me my entire life in a strange creepy way.

The bruises on my body healed by the time we got past the Ice bridge. The black and blue marks and pain had all but remained. And as the time wore on, walking through the soft, singing snow the silence grew.

"Look," Revan said, pointing a now blue hand off into the distance, past giant shards of ice that stuck up from the ground.

I did. About a mile ahead was someone speeding towards us on what looked like a hourse. A trail of snow billowed out from behind them, stirring the air. I was about to ask Revan what he thought about it, then remembered that I was angry with him.

"Hide until he passes." He ordered softly, slipping behind a shard of ice and into the shadows.

I scoff. "Hide? Like I'm going to listen to you." His face darkens, and I continue to walk forward. He has no right to order me around.

He attempts to follow, weaving through the Ice. "Will you just-"

"No. If you don't like it then you can leave. Not that I could blame you," Bitterness crept into my voice. "bitchy people aren't the sort that you want to hang around."

I moved ahead before he could respond.

The man rode up on a black horse, wearing the black and silver uniform of the Unseelie Guard. No features were recognizable from under his shinny helmet, but he was short, like a child. A cape flapped behind him and wrapped around him like a cowl.

"Princess Crystal," The man nodded. "Queen Mab has requested you to return to Court immediately."

"Okay. I will be there as soon as I can."_ To bad we just didn't take the horses with us_. I move to go around him.

"Princess," I stop, looking back up at him. Revan was on the other side of him, crouching Incase the guard had decided to pull something. "The Queen requests your presence _immediately_. It will take you far to long if you travel on foot." He gestured to the back of his horse. "Come, your highness."

"But I have a hunting partner." I motioned to Revan who growled a curse at me. "It would be rude to leave him."

The guard did not budge. He held out his hand, waiting for me to hop on the back of his horse.

What choice did I have? There is no way to refuse my mom. If I did then she would probably freeze me to the wall for a decade. The sucky thing is that I would be leaving him. It's also a good thing.

I take his hand.

He pulls he onto the horse, almost falling off himself, and I look at Revan. He stared back at me with a disapproving frown. I bristled. It was like he expected me to follow his every move, like the Beta of the pack. Then, me and the guard ride off, back to the Unseelie Palace.

** Alright, that should cover the relationship drama for a little while. Now into more plot based events. **

**So what did you think about the drama? Was it repetitive? It sure felt like it when I wrote it. Or maybe that's because all drama is like that.**

**Thank you everyone for reviewing and being the great supporters for my most well written story ever. Have a happy holiday, and do NOT get coal. Santa is out for revenge this year...can't you feel it?**

**Now, for more serious matters, I will not be writing for a few days because I am finally getting a lab top fixed! =D $75 for writing purposes only! **

**Have a happy end of the world.**


	10. Letters from Hell

The Winter territory was irritated: blowing nasty swirls of snow and the air became so frigid that I was thankful I couldn't get cold, and the clouds had rolled in with enough snow to burry an army. The snowflakes no longer sang there soft, sweet tune. Instead they sang a note of warning and despair, haunting the air we rushed past on the speed of the Fey horse.

When we had arrived at the Winter Palace I could tell that the Fey shared the weathers emotions. Redcaps were eating people on the side of the roads and lots of screaming of Beansidhes echoed throughout the stormy air. Whatever Mom wanted me for had to be important. Everything in the Winter territory had reflected the Queens emotions in some way, and they often not knew it. One thing was for sure though. Queen Mab was _not_ happy.

I rushed to the throne room before he had even stopped to dismount and had to refrain myself from sprinting. In the dark halls no one, not even the Phookas, stirred. Everything was eerily quiet and the air was thick, as if it was angry. Icicles hung off the ceiling in large points that had fallen and nearly killed me.

Once I got there the throne room was empty. Mist swirled around the floor and the glimmering Ice Throne was not empty. In the frozen seat was Mom, holding the scepter of the seasons tightly in her hand. Her dark eyes flashed, whipping at me and locking onto my eyes. The tint of the air darkened, nearly blending her dress into the frantic shadows.

I stop before her and curtsy; just like she liked me to do. "Queen Mab."

She didn't speak. I held my stance, no slouching and lowered chin. Mom frowned, blood red lips dripping what she likes to call fresh 'Summer Wine.' Only this blood was darker, almost black; which means only one thing. It wasn't from a Summer. I smelt the air, smelling the deep fragrance, and the mists parts behind her throne, revealing a body from a poor creature that had no head.

She draws a sharp breath, "Princess Crystal."

I flinch, snapping my eyes back to her and hope she doesn't snap me. Only once before had she got this angry. That was the day that someone had stolen her earrings. Ash had caught the thief and the goblin writhed and screamed all the way back to the Queen, swearing everything he could to hope for his release. I was not allowed to witness the execution.

"Yes, My Queen?"

"Do you know why I called you here?" The tone of her voice was sharp and cold. The staff in her bloody hands glowed with life, seemingly pulsating.

Carefully, I start. "No."

Her pointed nails tap on the arm of the chair impatiently. "Well, are you going to ask why?" Her lips purse.

"Why did you call me here, Queen Mab?" My voice almost wavered. She scared me when she was in this kind of mood. If you weren't scared, especially if she was talking to you, then you were either in a good position in a bargain or you were just asking for death, so It took everything I had not to start whimpering like a baby.

"I called you here because Rowan was taken the moment you had left. I want to know something from you, _daughter._" She spit the word at me like it was poison. Snow started to fall heavily from above. "Every time, it seems that I let you out of my sight one of my precious boys is taken straight out from under me. I want to know," She leans forward, looking utterly inhuman. "If you are the one who's taking them."

Ice crackles from the floor, the strong bite of cold shooting up my legs, and my legs being squeezed tightly as ice crawls up my waist, freezing me to the ground. I yelp deliberately, flailing my arms to keep my forced balance.

"Are you?" Mom stands up, walking over to me quickly with her dress billowing out behind her with her long hair. She stops just inches from my face, clutching my jaw with her hand and poking holes in my skin with her lack claws of nails.

This was crazy! I can't believe she would accuse me of kid napping my own brothers! It feels like a knife in my back to think, to _know_ that she doesn't trust me or even know me well enough to know that I love them just as much as I love her. And now she's frozen me to the floor, hurting me, and demanding an answer that she shouldn't even have had to ask.

I couldn't stop myself. I whimpered, "No!"

She continues, "Are you involved with the ones who are taking my babies? Answer me truthfully, girl, or I shall make you an ice statue in my garden until the end of time."

Tears form in my eyes. Mom smiles vindictively. "You better answer." The ice grew slowly up my body, "Because I'm getting tired of waiting for your unbelievably _slow_ progress in _everything_."

"Mom!" I cry out, the ice crawling past my stomach all too fast.

Her lips twist into a snarl. "Answer me!" Mom screams, slapping me across the face with the back of her hand. The ice goes past my chest.

The impact felt as if Mike Tyson had took a block of ice and smashed it on my cheek. Already I could feel the skin begin to swell and the nerves bruise. For a Queen that does nothing physical all day she has a hell of a back hand.

"I have nothing to do with them! Nothing!" The ice crawls up my neck.

And stops.

Tears streamed freely down my face, shaming me, and I could barely draw breath with the Ice encasing my chest. I closed my eyes tightly, not wanting her to see just how much she hurt me, and not just with the hand. But it didn't matter. She already knew. She already knew just how much influence on me she had and that I was weak. What she would do, I didn't know. I just hoped that she believed me and that whatever she planned would be quick and not last for my entire life. There was no telling what she would do to me if she didn't believe me. Freeze me in her garden like she had planned, have me gutted each day and have someone give me a potion to make my insides grow back only so it could be done again, pull my brain out my nose, drink my blood?

I don't open my eyes. And the silence dragged on with more of the salty water soaking my cheeks, which began to throb painfully. Then, the Ice cracked and shattered to pieces around me, clattering to the floor like glass and vanishing as if it never was. My legs were weak and I fell to the floor gasping for large, shaky breaths.

"Look at me." She commands.

I do, and regret listening to her. She gave me a grimace of disgust, scowling at me all the while, wrenching my heart even more. "If you don't improve by the time Duke Salem's house is rebuilt then I can promise you this. You will not be breathing." Mom motions for me to leave. "Now get out of my sight, you worthless harlot." Spit lands on my throbbing cheek.

Scrambling to my feet, I move away, trying to leave before some Fey saw me like this. Before I was shamed further. Angry whispers in my head followed my every step.

_You're worthless! _

_Pathetic! _

_She's right about everything._

_You deserve this._

_Rowan and Ash are in pain because of you._

_You'll never be able to compare to anything._

And they went on, each more right and worse than the last, filling my head in a constant string of truths and a list of reasons why she's right. With each corridor I went down the lists got worse and worse, some not even related to how Mom hates me, but they've now moved onto things from Home. From Baraga. Things I took for granted, people who hate me and why they do, and that even then I was never good at whatever I did.

I ran into my room and slammed the door, rushing to my bathroom where a bath was already drawn, steaming with the scent of clovers. With no time to waist, I shed my clothes and hop in the tub, forcing myself underwater with no breath.

_Punishment._

_Payback._

The water burned my eyes. The lack of air burned my lungs. But it didn't hurt nearly as bad as my emotions, which assaulted me in a barrage of blows with memories and words, tearing me in so many directions that I could split into thousands of pieces that Mom would never find them and hurt them. But that could be for the best. I'm obviously not enough for any of them.

Bubbles escape my mouth. I try to get up instinctively, but hold onto the sides of the tub and keep myself under, willing the water to help me stay down. Seconds pass. I pull myself out of the water and gasp for more breaths of sweet air. The water splashes everywhere and soaks the floor, reaching back for me like we're magnets for each other. Then I plunge myself under again, determined to do it again and again until I could find the will to succeed, to drown out the voices and taunts, to make myself suffer just as much as Rowan and Ash probably are.

After I pull myself up for the final time, having gotten over my thought and quieted my mind, I quickly realize that I am not in my bathroom. In this bathroom a man's grooming products littered the sink. Mine had make-up and perfume and daggers sprayed everywhere. My heart stops. "Oh, no." I whisper.

Footsteps echo outside of the bathroom. "Oh, no." I say a little louder, slip out of the water silently, grab my bundle of clothes and look back at the tub. It was full when I got here, and it looked perfect. Now the floor and I were soaking wet and the tub held muddy water and was half full.

The door knob begins to turn.

I will the water back into the tub, everything on my body and anywhere else, and pull the plug with the water. Instantly the tub was empty, and in the dim light I move to the corner, where the shadows were darkest, and hide. The door opens. And in walks Sage, with nothing on besides the towel that hung around his waist. He looked at the empty tub and frowned.

_Please don't see me, please don't see me. _I mentally beg in my head. The last thing I wanted to deal with was having my remaining brother see me naked and then have to ask why I was in here, which I would have to tell him that I was trying to drown myself and then he would see an opportunity and force me into a contract so Mom wouldn't find out and then I would be his for all eternity, and then my life would be even more over.

He turns my way and I cringe, waiting for him to start yelling and asking questions, and his green eyes pass over me entirely and land on something beyond the bath room door. "Where is my bath? You said you had drawn one." He walks outside in a hurry. It wouldn't be long before he drew his sword and punished someone.

The shadows must have been darker than I thought if he didn't see me. Sage never misses anything. Or so I had thought. He must have a lot on his mind since he's next to be taken. And it would make sense that he's a little tense.

The sharp rasp of his sword echo's out. "P-please, y-your Highness, I-I had d-drawn the bath. Like y-you said." The servant whimpers. And I stop to wonder if that was what I had sounded like to Mom. Was I really sounding so pathetic? So weak? If so then I wish she would have killed me on the spot. Unacceptable. I was lucky she hadn't.

The door slams, and the frantic sound of footsteps left the room followed by silence. My breathing came quick and I gave a sigh of relief. Now I had to get out of here before he came back. At least if he caught me in his room, with some clothes on, everything would be much less awkward and life scaring. I slip my clothes on and walk outside of his room, peaking around the corner to make sure no one was watching.

"-Highness. I will not fail you like he had." A small voice comes from down the hall, followed by my brother's deep voice. They walk around the corner and I get back inside, closing the door quietly. My heart picks up and my eyes search around the room for a place to hide. His room was spotless and had nothing more then what he needed, which left very little options. So I look at the bed.

His muffled voice comes from directly the other side.

I sprint across the room and leap over the bed, landing on the white marble floor and shove myself on the floor, leaving small streaks of mud on the floor where my clothes had slid. _White. Everything just has to be white._

They come in the room, the soft clopping of hooves heard on the floor, going into the bathroom. Sage's bare white feet walk over to the bed on the opposite side of the one with the dark brown streaks. He sits down on the bed, making the bottom of the bed stretch out on my back. The thick grey covers of the bed hid me from his view and allowed me to see the very bottom of his feet, so he couldn't see me when I tried to get closer to the floor and away from his weight that was nearly crushing me. His weight shifted, getting comfortable and putting more weight on me.

The weight shifts again, going forward, and his hand pushes up the soft fabric of his blanket up. My breath hitched, and I started coming up with reasons why I was hiding under his bed in dirty hunting clothes. I couldn't think of much. The edges of his black hair showed, and not his face. Sage said nothing.

His other hand comes under the bed, holding three scorched envelopes that had been darkened and burned by fire. They swirled with glamour: Hate and anger and betrayal. The burned pieces of paper each had my name scratched on them with a dark, dry liquid that was chipping away. Sage tucked them between the mattress and the bed frame, then withdrawing his hands and putting the blanket down.

"Prince Sage, your bath is ready." The girl clopped up to the bed and curtsied, then squeaked. "Oh, my. Your floor is dirty…allow me to go and get come cleaning supplies, your highness?"

Sage stands and the bed recedes, relieving the pressure on my spine. "Yes. Go." And the girl clops off.

Sage walks around the bed slowly, moving to toward the streaks I had left on the floor, and when he sees them go under his bed he'll lift the blanket and see me. I stare at the papers he had tried to hide. _Why would Sage be keeping those? _After a moment of thought I snatch them quietly and stuff them down my shirt, preparing to roll out from under the bed and sprint. Sage saw the streaks; the mysterious smell of curiosity filled the air around him. He knelt down next to the bed and his pale fingers gripped the fabric. I rolled over, away from him, and out from under the bed. I sprint, not making a sound, for the door that had been left open, and turn the corner while his shout of dismay chases me down the hall.

I turn corners and duck behind pillars, Sage passing me (dressed in clothes) and me going another direction. He was good at following me and had ordered several guards to help him catch the thief. If they caught me then they would get the reward of my head. So, needless to say, I didn't slow down.

_**These letters of mine must **_be really important if he doesn't want me to read them. They were still out and about chasing after Tiaothin, who had run beside me for a while, and told me that if she took their attention off of me and led them off then I would half to let her see what it was that I had stolen. Of course, I added the condition that she wouldn't be able to tell anyone about it, and then she was off.

Tiaothin was a female Phooka that was notoriously known for being a messenger of the Princes and annoying the more prominent figures in the Court, besides Mom. She was a very big trouble maker. At least once a day she would pull something and would be chased down the halls of the palace by something often larger than her. It was quite funny.

My room was clean and orderly, my dresser holding the many weapons that my brothers would get me to try and learn. Name it: mace, daggers, crossbow, spears, long swords, scythe, whip, it was there and I knew how to use almost every one of them. Not the mace, though. Almost killed myself with that thing. My bed had the same grey comforter that Sage had and it was littered with books that were about military strategy that Ash had showed me at the library and different things about faery. Mainly Ash taught me about the rest of the fey world. Rowan taught me about court behavior. Sage taught me how to fight and military strategy. I was going to need to cram if I was going to improve enough so Mother wouldn't kill me.

Pushing that out of my mind I clear a space on my bed and pull out the letters that I kept in my shirt. The three letters now smelled like the clovers that Sages bath had smelt like, and I go into another fit of laughter. After I had gotten away from them I had found the whole situation hilarious.

I tore open the paper and yanked out the paper. These pieces of paper were strange. They weren't like the normal pieces of paper. These ones were perfectly cut and fine grained, a white so bright that no home brewer could make these. This wasn't paper that was made in faery. This kind of paper was human paper. And it was written by one. The blue pen strokes weren't as pointed as a quell; they were from a normal dollar store pen. The paper read,

_Dear Crystal,_

_I am not in love with your brother. Sure he's crazy hot and I'm not going to say no to him, but I did what I did back at Baraga because I love you and want you to be happy. So, in case you forgot about me, I will tell you everything._

_Rowan had woken me up and explained to me that you had not wanted to go with them because of me. That hurt. I didn't want to be the one who stood in the way of your happiness, so I had agreed to help him. Our plan was to make you so angry at me that you would leave willingly. And I knew that the fastest way to make you mad at me was…well, what we did. He proposed the plan first, just so you know._

_We were just going to do some kissing. It wasn't supposed to turn into what it had and now that I look back I'm embarrassed. But then you weren't getting mad enough at kissing, so he had suggested something more. I was about to say no but he…persuaded me. That was when mom dragged us out of our little activity and threatened to give us a spanking. I saw that you still weren't mad enough so I did the last thing I could think of. I acted like our mother._

_I'm sorry for acting like a whore on our last day together, but you always were the one who planned things weren't you? And if you hate me then that's for the best. Because since Rowan killed me I had been sent to Hell. Really, it's not as bad as they say once you get past the constant smell of death and the unbearable heat. I'll write you exactly four times before paper will not be the communication level._

_Love,_

_Riley_

Tears stained some spots on the paper. I couldn't believe it. She acted like that just to make me happy? That was devious and stupid and I just couldn't be mad at her for it. The plan its self was a good one but she didn't do a very good job in holding it together. But I'm going to blame Rowan for that next time I see him. There will be a next time to. Because I'm leaving to get them back tomorrow night. If I can find Riley too then maybe I could do something to thank her.

I put that letter to the side and opened the next one.

_Dear Crystal,_

_This letter I'm going to tell you something secret. So keep that mouth of yours shut! Hahaha! I've met one of Hades demons. Can you guess his name? Lucifer! The devil! It's actually not the one from the religions, that's just the name that mortals call him because they think he was once that guy in heaven. _

_Anyway, he told me something interesting about you nowadays. Something tasty. You've actually started to hate me! Me! And you're glad you don't have to be with me anymore! Crazy, right? He must not know you, because you'd never do that, right? Right?_

_And can you believe that he took me out of the lava? The guy said these words to me: "I can take away the pain. Just give me your soul and I can take away the pain." Hahahaha! It was the greatest moment of my life! Or death, whatever you want to call it. And you know what I said? _

"_What will you use it for?" You always, always, always, always said to me that you never agree to anything unless I know. And now I do know. I know so well._

_He is going to train me! He wants me to kill someone who's the pathetic bastard of Maxilim. That guy is the head Spirit Wolf. Really big, really scary. Especially with that Black Serpent following his every move. Lucifer doesn't know I write to you though. Nobody knows that I know a way out of Hell and go to see you. They would be quite mad that I knew the little secret without them showing it to me. _

_Yes, I watch you there, training with your brothers. Sexy men, aren't they? Rowan is mine. Ever since that son of a bitch fucked me he's mine._

_Whoops gotta go. Lucifer is coooooooming, lalalee hahaha!_

_From,_

_Your sister Rilee_

I open the next one.

_Dear Crystal,_

_I took Rowan, he is mine, and Ash is doing fine. Ash hasn't stopped fighting. They put him in a ring with any hell bound soul that wants to get out of here. Have you ever seen a soul, who lived thousands of human lives, fight? I tell you right now that _that _is a show. Poor, young Ash, who is barely managing to stay on his feet, is waiting for you. Don't worry, we let him rest. But not often. You better hurry, bastard. Because even Ash is shedding tears._

_Back to Rowan! :D He is mine, just like I said. Lucifer let me have him. Right now Rowan is chained to my bed. Don't think what I know you are. He's having fun. We were just about to play a little game that involves a knife and no clothes. Fun, right? And you'd never guess that all of those girls he had fooled are down here, too. They want him, and after they told me what he had done I let them have a go. But not one of them wanted what I want from him. They want revenge: so every pain they felt he feels it ten fold. I just want his flesh. Here, I'll let him write something._

_Help me_

_And hurry. He's going a little raw and I might have to give him a break for him to refill. Maybe later._

_And maybe Sage might join him._

_Love,_

_Me_


	11. Birth of a Monster

_**Numb. It's the only word I **_can really think of to describe this feeling. Not angry. Not sad. Betrayed? Confused? No. It's literally like a void opened up in my chest and just took away my ability to have a reaction. Was this how full Winter Fey always felt? How Ash felt before he got sucked into Hell and was fighting for his life? If so then it doesn't feel so bad. It would be worse than the misery that I knew I would be going through. I suppose that I did feel a little bit betrayed. At first I wanted to save Riley. _Thank _her. But now I have something else in mind. Or was she just trying to get me to hate her so I wouldn't risk my life for her?

Yes. That's it. It has to be why those letters are so…dark. She was fine the first one. Why wouldn't she be now? I have to believe that she's lying. If I don't then something feels like it might snap. I can't tell what it is, but it feels important. And, hey, I'll do just as Miranda, my X-box friend, always did. Don't feel, just drift, go through the motions and pretend like it doesn't hurt until it doesn't. Seems like the right thing to do. Feeling is just not appealing right now.

I lay on my bed, clutching the letters tightly in my hand. The glamour around them shifted with each word that was read. It was how Riley had felt, because these papers are now Tokens. But they're mine. No one else is going to get them. Not even when I'm dead and gone. That last letter changed my mind, though. I'm not going to wait another second to go and save them. I can't. Ash and Rowan are now my top priority. Sage will be there when I'm in Hell so I'll get him then.

Tiaothin jumped through the doors and landed on the side of my bed, clutching her arm and bleeding. She looked panicked and dicked down next to my bed. I turned and looked blankly down at her. She looked up and said, "I couldn't get away from Sage."

Just then, Sage, now in black clothes, ran through my door and charged for Tiaothin who cringed. It hit me. She was looking for my protection. She wanted me to stop him. I suppose that I owe it to her. If she hadn't taken his attention then I probably might have been running still. I move in front of the wounded Phooka and stare down at him; cold and uncaring.

Then there is Sage, who was going to hide those letters from me and never let me know just what was happening to Ash and Rowan if she wasn't lying. Even if she is then they're most likely not having a good time. I need to know.

Sage stops, his sword softly radiating blue and throwing mist into the air. His green eyes flash with anger, something I've never seen on him. "What are you doing?" He looks at me and waits.

My arms tense to fight. Blankly, peering into the depths of his eyes, I step forward until he puts his sword down we're inches apart. "What am I doing? What are _you_ doing hiding my mail from me?" Sage's eyes grow big.

"She gave them to you?" His steady glare goes to Tiaothin again. "Tiaothin,-"

I move in front of his eyes again. "No. I took them." He had no reason to hurt her anymore then he did. I may be going to save him but he will not hurt someone who aided me in getting a clear picture of what was going on to both of our brothers. "I was in your room. So don't blame her for something she didn't do. And I want to know why you didn't give me those letters to begin with, Sage."

Sage didn't speak. Shuffling came from behind us and the smell of blood wafted through the air. It made me hungry. It was tempting to turn around and forget, but Sage and the letters are far more important to deal with.

"Well?"

He looked down at my hand, the one that held the papers. After a moment he looked back up at me and sheathed his sword. Sage looked at Tiaothin. "Leave us, Tiaothin." In a moment she hobbled out the door and disappeared, closing the door behind her. There we stared each other down, neither willing to back away and admit weakness. He still smelled like body odors instead of cloves, his favorite. So Tiaothin had kept him plenty busy.

I pressed, "It's my place to know."

"I had not given those letters to you because you need to focus on your training. If you read those letters then I feared you would have left before you were ready. If you left then you would be killed. We haven't even gotten through half of the things we need to cover, and at the pace we're at then we might never get to finish before I'm taken as well.

"Now, answer a question of mine. Why were you in my room?" His face goes back to that business like set and his body posture relaxes.

_Crap._ My head searches for an excuse but I can't do it fast enough. He looked at me expectantly, waiting just as I had done for him. One thing was for sure; I am not telling him about the bath tub, but by the look in his eye he already suspected. That was the answer he wanted. My cheek throbbed, reminding me why I was in there.

"Because," I start slowly, trying to give myself more time to think. "I want to inform you that if I don't improve by the time that Duke Salem's house is rebuilt then Mother promised that I would not be breathing. So we should get started on training."

Sage pressed his questions. "If you had wanted to inform me of our situation," His eyes tighten a fraction, "then why were you under my bed? Why would you not just wait outside of my room and knock?"

"You didn't knock when you came into my room. So what makes you think I have to knock before entering your room?"

My thoughts flick to Revan, and what really happened when we kissed. I didn't exactly try to push him off when he kissed me. Instead I welcomed his warm touch and was the one who let it get as far as it did. He was the one to pull away, not me. If I didn't stop him then why should he have? Besides the fact that something in me wanted to do it I had to admit that it felt _good. _

"Crystal," He began, snapping my attention back to the present conversation. Where my attention should be and not off replaying the memory in my head for no less then amusement.

"You did not knock first. It is only courteous to do so and since you did not knock first then I assumed that you would not mind the same treatment. And you didn't answer my question. Why were you hiding underneath my bed?"

I bit my lip, not willing to tell a lie. The numb feeling crept back slowly and caused me to drop all expression from view. The feeling was calm and made it impossible to care to do anything. But even if I didn't care about answering a question I still had to or it would be impolite and the Fey take insults and rudeness as a deep, long lasting offence. Not saying anything would be worse than saying the truth, I think. But explaining why I was in his bath would be worse than the both of them combined. I have to decide which one is worse and which one will be less painful to do.

Mimicking my tone Sage asks, "Well?"

The doors bust open, crashing into the room and sending shards of the Ice door into my room and hitting Sage in the back. Sage flew forward and smashed into me, taking me across the room with him. We land on the floor and he lay beside me with shards of ice sticking out of his back and dark blood blossoming out of the wounds. He jumped up faster than I could go and spun, ignoring the injuries on his body, and drawing his sword again.

I moved my body for a moment to assess the damage done. Only the pain of being smashed into and being crushed by my older brother lingered. A monstrous roar stole my attention next. But it didn't come from the door. Instead it came from the balcony. I stand up as fast and I could and turn, not believing my eyes for a second.

Bright fiery eyes stared us down, a long scaly neck that bore deep shredded scars carries the monstrous head and four wings carried its scrawny body. I quaked with fear, but the fear wasn't for me. It was for Sage. This was the demon that had tried to take Ash the first time. I had thrown a spear into its ear so we could escape, but we would have died if the Jabberwocky hadn't come and attacked it. With no spear and no Jabberwocky I feared that I'm not going to be able to stop it from taking Sage and burning me.

I needed to get him out of here and fast. But something was at the door, probably blocking that exit as well. I turn and look for Sage.

Sage was facing a lone black figure with a delicate frame. It was shorter then both of us and feminine enough to pass for a woman. But her skin was charred and black, glowing like an ember from a fire. The creature's hair smoked out behind her in long curls, vanishing in its own motions before it restarts at the base of her skull. Its glowing red eyes, surrounded by black, gazed at Sage with hunger. It's soft, burned voice speaks at him.

"Sage," It croons. "Come to your new home and meet your brothers." She laughs hysterically, getting a nonexistent punch line. Something about her was familiar and sickening.

Sage lunges at her with his razor sharp sword, aiming to slice her head off. The girl instantly stops laughing and ducks, disappearing into smoke. Sage stumbled when his sword didn't make the target, but he wasn't surprised. He swung his sword at something behind him, but nothing was there. Above him, the girl appeared again. Her long, pointed claws that were each as long at her forearm and as skinny as needles, flashed bright orange at the tips. The girl was dropping down on him, ready to plunge her talons into his skin.

I begin to shout a warning and spin to grab a weapon off of my dresser, but it was too late. The girl landed on his back and tossed his sword away. She picked him up and ran for the monster. I grabbed the daggers and threw them. They flipped through the air, one missing and clattering to the floor, the other sinking into the girls back.

It didn't stop her. She winced and jumped off of the balcony, landing on the snout of the monsters head. I sprint to the window and grab the dagger, listening to the sound of beating wings get farther and farther away. Once at the very edge of the balcony I see the giant monster flying away in the dark, headed for a large fiery portal at the edge of the city. Below people screamed and threw things at it, the guard mobilized and firing arrows at the beast's underbelly and protecting the citizens that helped destroy the beast with no luck.

My eyes fogged with tears. _Another failure to protect someone. _"Dammit." I whisper.

"Crystal!" Mom shrieked loudly, everything in the Winter Territory freezing beyond the point of no return.

I winced, and turned.

Mom stood in the doorway, her eyes black and her elegant face twisted into an ugly snarl of rage, looking completely inhuman. She pointed a white finger at me and marched forward. "You are the one responsible for this!" She claimed. "You stole my children from me!"

Trembling, I stepped forward and knelt, my face going to the floor so I wouldn't have to see her face as she screamed at me. This was it. She was going to kill me here, on this very spot. I would never get the chance to save my brothers. They're going to suffer for eternity because she is going to kill me for something I couldn't do anything to prevent.

That feeling of something ready to snap came back. It calmed all other feelings and distractions, calling my attention to it rather than the very real threat in front of me. From deep within me the feeling came, from within my essence. It throbbed with a dark power and was the thin ice that kept me from falling into an abyss. Something about this very moment was important.

Mom stopped in front of me, carrying the Scepter of the Seasons. "I should have killed you when you were born. All you ever did for me was get my beloved sons killed, you useless parasite. If I had left you in the Mortal World then you would never have bothered me and you would have rotted into nonexistence. Just like it should have been." I was about to agree. But I stopped myself.

_No._ It snapped, releasing a flood of the dark substance into me. It worked its way through my system, boiling my blood and hollowing me. The heavy feeling of everything vanished. I no longer felt obligated to please Mab. I no longer felt obligated to save my brothers. All I want is blood. The blood of those I had cared about before I came here. And that blood is in Riley's head.

Mabs cruel voice cracked again. "I am not going to kill you. Death is too good for you." Her power swirled in the air around us, building. She couldn't hide the smile in her voice, believing that she terrified me like she had done the last time. "You will feel the suffering I feel. Then you will breath once more." Mab promised.

Rising to my feet, the dark energy swirled around me. I looked into her black eyes, black eyes that looked just like mine, and bared my fangs at her. "No. You are a liar." The joy from her face faded and was replaced with rage. "If you cared for your sons at all then you wouldn't take away the only chance you have to see them again."

"How dare you? I am your Queen. How dare you call me a liar!" She rasped and the power around her pushed forward, wrapping me in layers and freezing its self into solid ice. The ice filled my mouth and nose, freezing my legs still and encasing me in ice.

**Alright! Another 2,500 word chapter! Back to hitting my normal mark but I think I want to start making it 3,000. Ah, who knows? Merry late Christmas! Hope you all enjoyed Jesus's birthday!**

**And please let it be known that The Host, by the author of the Twilight series, is amazing! Way better than Twilight because there is an actual plot to the story besides love.**


	12. Acorns

Part two

_**My body felt weak, stiff and**_ sore. The muscles under my skin could barely twitch and my lungs, use to shallow, almost nonexistent breaths of air, worked at stretching and flexing, and my mind was to foggy for thinking. Slowly I could feel my heart beat speed up and get stronger, more noticeable. A warm source of heat touched the side of my face gently, sending strange tingles down my spine.

"What in the bloody hell were you thinking, bringing that thing here? Who knows what in the hell it'll do once it wakes up?" Shouted a harsh, feline, feminine voice in the distance.

The warm left my face. "_It_ is a she, and _she_ is part of our Pack." A male's voice growls beyond the fog.

"She might be your Pack, Revan, but that thing is not ours, not while her monstrous Unseelie nature dictates her soul. Have you even stopped to think about what Maxilim would say? You know that he wants her dead, just like we do, and just like you should. So what in the Hell were you thinking?"

I slowly open my eyes to a blurry world and blink away the heavy weight of sleep. The light is dim and the air is moist. Jagged shapes of rocks line the walls while the crackling of a fire burns in the distance. Shadowy figures stand around me and one other. The one who had been shouting, a brown haired girl, looked at me and sneered.

"Now it's awake. We should kill it before it attacks." The girl prompts and the others behind her murmur agreements.

An instinctual urge to leap over to her and rip out her throat compelled me to do just that. And I did. I sprung up to my feet and lunged my teeth for her neck. She leapt backwards, the crowd behind her coming forward to fight me. One of them catches my neck and picks me up, a dirty blonde man that was taller than anyone there, and he flung me back into the rocky wall.

The impact stunned me, my muscled already strained from the sudden use and movement. Revan moved in front of me, putting himself between me and the crowd. He faced them and shouted to regain order. Everyone in the cave was in an uproar, trying to get to me, but they listened to Revan. There must have been at least eight others in the cave. They all had there claws extended and heads of wolves, even tails behind their legs. The sound of snarling and barking came in next, rejecting whatever it was that Revan had said. I didn't bother to hear. I only ignored the pain and slowly sat up. They are not going to kill me. Not if I kill them first.

"You see? She can't stay here! Make her leave! She'll only get stronger the more she's up and about!" One of the boys shouted over the crowd. He eyed me with pure white eyes. He must have been around his early twenties like the rest of them, but he had the most bulk. The man stepped forward to grab me, and I growled. The sound was inhuman and not entirely wolf sounding, which they picked up on. The man who stepped forward met a solid blow to the jaw and was knocked back several feet. Revan wound up his fist again, ready for another one.

My heart thudded loudly. We was going to get himself hurt by continuing to hold the crowd back. Moving past my body's protests I stand and move him behind me, baring my teeth at the crowd. The one closest, a grey haired old woman, snarled at me. She had golden eyes and a skinny form. She would be the easiest one to kill. It would only take a second. And of it meant protecting Revan then it would be even easier.

A hand grabbed my arm from behind, hot and familiar. Revan pulled me back, even as I pulled forward. He pulled me back behind him and wouldn't let me forward. I peeked at the vicious crowd over his tall shoulder and glared at them, which they were more than happy to return the favor.

The old woman spoke. "Revan, I realize you are the current pack Alpha and that she is part of your pack, but having her here endangers us all. It is your responsibility to keep the group safe," Her eyes narrow at me. "even if it means kicking out something you love."

Then the girl from before, the brown haired one, came stomping up to the front, glaring with her orange eyes. She moved beside the old woman. " Especially is that thing is part faery!"

The old woman whipped her head to the side and looked up at the girl. "Silence!" The girl listened along with everyone else. The old woman gained control better then Revan and seemed to hold the respect of everyone there with her whip like voice and her steady presence. But unlike the others, and Revan, she didn't wear hunting garb. She wore a dress made of animal hide that had layers over her torso and pockets sewn to the sides of her legs, filled with plants that smelled strange.

Everyone listened up and was tense. They all waited for her to speak.

The old woman eyes everyone before she continues. "As former Alpha of this pack, guarding and teaching newly instated Alpha Revan, I will over rule his judgment of this girl and hear by remove her from the presence of the pack." Revans face goes into shock while everyone else relaxes. "He is obviously clouded by attachment and love so that he may not see what is best for the pack and himself."

"She belongs here with us. Can't you feel it? She's pack." Revan argues.

"You are the only one who feels this connection to the Lost Soul. You must make her leave. She is a danger to us all and I am not giving you a choice. You either make her leave now or I will remove you as well."

I pause. Lost Soul? What does that mean? How can I have a lost soul if I'm a faery? Sage had said that fey don't have souls, that when they die they just cease to exist. Having a soul implies that there is life after death, that you are not what you are in your physical form. I have no soul to loose and I have to soul to gain. She must be lying! Lying to everyone! Lying to me. And she threatens to remove Revan from his pack, from where he belongs.

My fists clench.

As if reading my thoughts the old woman looks at me disdainfully. "A lost Soul, with our kind, is what happens when a Soul is consumed by instincts and darkness." She explains as if talking to a child. Then she peers into my eyes as if trying to see into me, burning a hole in a spot that lay just between my eyes, a little higher. "Somewhere in your recent past you have given in because someone had not taught you about the dangers of being our kind." She looks at Revan disappointedly. "I told you to explain to her before she became more of a threat then what she already was." The old woman steps up to Revan. "Are you trying to get someone killed?"

"No, of course not. We never had the chance to talk about it because they never let her out of Court!"

One of the ones from the crowd shout, "Lies! I saw you both along with that Summer Fey in the Wyldwood less than a week ago!"

Revan cringed.

I followed the urge to, again, shove him behind me and speak, growling at them and daring anyone to say something. "He was trying to, but I ran off. Since then we never got a chance. So shut your mouth before I eat out those wandering eyes of yours, _boy._"

The old woman spoke next. "Leave us, Lost Soul. You have no place amongst us."

I didn't need an invitation to leave. I was going to as soon as no one was looking because I needed to finish something that started the moment that Sage had disappeared and the moment Mab had frozen me in ice. I still needed to go to Hell and kill Riley. She is the reason of all of my suffering and she must be killed. Then I need to kill Maxilim. Then I need to kill that flying snake that destroyed my chance of keeping my brothers with me. They all need to die for hurting me. Getting Ash and Rowan back will just be a bonus. I'm past loving anyone else. Love only burns.

"Then get out of my way." Without another word they all parted a neat path to the end of the cave. Beyond the bright fire was dawn. Trees surrounded the area and birds chirped happy songs. I walked forward quickly, eager to get out of the cave and start my plotting. It's going to take a while to get everything I need to do this. Armor, weapons, foo-

Just at the edge of the cave someone spins me around and holds me still. Revan looked down on me with fierce protection. "Please don't leave. I need you." His black hair was messy and greasy, twigs sticking out and partly covered in its of snow. He must have been the one to get me out of the Winter Territory, guarding me like he said.

"No. You gotta stay here and be their Alpha, Revan. I need to do something thing else." This is where he belonged and I can't take him away from that, or will I stay here where I don't belong because of him. "I need to fix my family." Fix as in leave them in one piece before I waist away into nothing. This is a story that I'm not going to live through, weather the option is there or not.

He shakes his head in protest. "Stay here with me. Be my Beta. I can't live here without you," His voice drops into a low, low whisper. "They're not my Pack. I don't feel the bond like I do with you. I can't stay with people who aren't my family."

Those last words struck something. Bitter memories of staying silent as Hala beat me with that paddle, yelled at me for no reason, of being used by Riley for my entire life, of every damn second in that house hold. I knew just how he felt. Living with people who aren't your family is borderline torcher. I would have done next to anything to escape, but I couldn't do anything because of my responsibility to Riley. If she hadn't done what she did there is no doubt that I would have stayed, weather they tried to take me or not.

But he doesn't even want to stay unless I do. Forcing him to stay would make him miserable. Staying would get me nowhere at all. Taking him with would separate him from his home, though he said these weren't his Pack, and put him danger because as soon as we would leave they could send a message to Maxilim and give away our location even if I didn't take him. Would I rather have him happy and in danger or miserable and safe?

I take a breath, and spill the words with no emotion, as solid as ice. "Stay here." His eyes harden. "Your safety means more than…." That was something I couldn't say. I couldn't tell him that his happiness meant nothing to me because it did. I just need him safe. Every glaring person in that cave, who turned away and retreated into darkness, would make sure he is kept safe.

"Then what? My happiness?" He gave a humorless laugh. "If you don't care about my happiness then what about yours? You can't think that if you get your brothers back to your mother then that bitch would accept and be proud of you. Going back to the Winter Court isn't an option for you unless you want to end up an icicle in Mab's garden. I'm coming with you whether you like it or not."

"You can't. I won't let you put yourself in danger for some meaningless reason." I promised. He means to much to me to let die. I only wish that I could stop loving him and get on with life. He'll be better off if he thinks I've been captured or something, or just can't find my way back to him. Who known what he'll do if he finds out I'm planning on not coming back?

Revan drops his hold on me and grips his hands. "For God's sake, Crystal! You're not some meaningless reason!"

I turn and quickly walk away before he can argue further. Revan can't and won't come with me. I've made my decision.

I get to the edge of the woods when a hot hand grabs my arm and yanks me back. Revan spins me around to him, cups my face in his hands, and kisses me. I was rigid, braced for an impact of something sharp or a fist, but it didn't come. The longer he held his lips to mine the less I could think. I let go and pull him closer to me by the ends of his hunting vest and retract my teeth for a less awkward feeling.

Revan takes my lower lip between his and lightly sucks, holding it in place. I do the same to his upper lip, feeling his hot against my cold. Again I smelt smoke and a heavy scent around him that drew me nearer. His fingers tangle in my hair that had grown to shoulder length and pull my head away from his. We take a deep breath…

"Oy! Dogs, you gonna quite humping like rabbits? 'Cause I sure don't wanna watch." Called that snarky and annoying voice that almost crushed me last time.

I let go of Revan and scowled into the forest, but he held me to him by my waist. Turning, I softly glared at him with a ghost of a smile; which he returned. I kiss the hollow of his neck and trace a line along his jaw. His skin got goose bumps and he turned his head just in time to catch my lips. A mock frustrated voice grumbles from behind and he stands beside us, crossing his arms.

After another moment of us kissing he lets out an explosive sigh. "Come on! We're never going to get Ash back if you two just keep sucking face, so let's go." We didn't move. I was enjoying both annoying him and the kiss because I'm never going to see Revan after this and how often is it that I'm going to get to enjoy the revenge of annoying the hell out of that idiot standing next to us?

_Thwack! _

Something small and hard hit the back of my shoulder. I yelped from the unexpected impact and ripped myself out of the kiss and spun around, searching for the offender.

_Thwack!_

Another one hits the top of my head. It falls to the grass. I look down and see two acorns. Then I look up and see hundreds of squirrels perched in the branches with Puck perched above them, waving cheerfully and throwing us a smug smile. Every squirrel held acorns in there small, brown hands, and had cheeks swelled to three times their size with nuts inside.

I freeze, growling at the sight.

Puck yells, "You done?"

**Ok, we have a few things to talk about. One: I changed the title of the story. Two: I have a cover for the story. Three: I need to thank you for reviewing.**

**I changed the title because **_**The Winter Princess**_** just seems to not really portray what this story is about and seems to boring. So I named it Rise of the Spirit Wolf because Crystal, a half Spirit Wolf, is rising.**

**The cover for the story is basically what Crystal looks like as a Spirit Wolf, when she's in that form. There is three forms she can take: Normal, fey looking one. A half wolf half woman, like the people in the cave. And a complete wolf.**

**Thank you all for reviewing, you have been so nice! And a special thanks to ninja princess LW for being my only constant reviewer. It's a real shame that me and her are the only ones who know how to leave a review. Seriously! We're the only two who ever review stories anymore! And of course the occasional Anonymous reviewer, and I still love all of your reviews just like someone who has an account.**

**Oh, almost forgot! Lost Souls!**

**A Lost Soul is a Soul that has gone bad, rouge, evil, or has just strayed from its path. She has kinda gone rouge and lost her way. That is the first stage.**

**Rouge and lost way.**

**Tempted by evil.**

**At the last stage it is all or nothing. Either she gets back on track and drops her bad ways or she loses whatever good she has left and loses her Soul.**

**Souls can't live in a body so dark so it would be forced to leave. Should someone lose their Soul then they become an embodiment of evil.**

**Have fun!**


	13. New Levels of Connection

_**Robin Goodfellow grinned at me,**_ hiding cowardly behind all of the squirrels and there acorns that they are prepared to throw at me. The sun had risen, lighting the forest in a soft light. It took me until now to notice, but everything was desaturated and lifeless, no animals of insects in sight.

"You done?" He asks.

I put my hands out before me and glare at him. "Why are you here?"

A smug look crossed his face, believing that I had given up. "Ha! It hasn't even put up a fight!" Then, _another_ Goodfellow came out of the woods and grinned at me. The one that came out of the woods said to me, "She must remember what happens when you mess with us."

"You weren't _that _impressive, Goodfellow." I sneered before Revan stood beside me, close enough for me to feel his body heat, and spoke next.

"I invited Robin to come. After all, he does deserve to go."

I look at him, forgetting to keep my hands up and ready. "You invited him? You're not even coming. I'm going and that's it."

"Can we please not get into this again?" Revan pleads.

The squirrels move hastily, wanting to move and throw them, gripping the nuts in their tiny hands.

I was about to argue but he spoke again. "Wasn't the kiss a yes?"

That made me think. Was it a yes? I just kissed him; it couldn't have been a yes to the question. After all, he really did kiss me this time, so it's not like I just started it. I only picked it back up after we were interrupted so that can't count as a yes, right?

Revan narrowed his eyes. "Yes, that does count as a yes." He turned his attention to Goodfellow. "Alright then Puck, let's go. We've got to get there before they find us."

One Puck, the one in the trees with the squirrels, disappeared and the one a few feet away stayed in one piece. Revan and Puck walked through the woods quickly and I hurried to follow, careful not to get left behind and insist that they don't come. It was going to save us all trouble if they just didn't come. It'll save me some annoyance if Puck stays anyway.

"Probably, but he's still coming." Revan said to me.

I blink. "Who're you talking to?"

_You. This is lesson one of being a Spirit Wolf, pup. As pack we can read each other's minds, so you might want to be careful of what you think._ A voice that sounded just like Revan said in my head. I reel back, startled.

"You've got to be kidding me!" I shout, stalking behind them. Puck gives us a confused look, looking back and forth between us like his misses something, which he no doubt did. I glare at him and he smiles, babbling on about useless things and commenting on our weirdness.

He laughs in my head. _Some of the things you dream about me are very flattering._

I think back, trying to gain access to those foggy dreams that usually stayed just out of my reach. Except this time, one stood out the most. It was the one I had while in stasis. One of the many. Once I got access to one of them I could remember almost all of the ones I had while frozen in ice. They were almost all about killing anyone, mainly Riley and Mab, though. But this dream made my cheeks go read and a shrill scream bottle in my thought. I wish for that eerie numbness that I get while I'm not around him because then I could not even care about what he had seen.

Revan had seen the one where the two of us were locked in my room at the Unseelie Court, doing some interesting things under the sheets that made me want to run as far away and scream until my lungs burst.

_Don't panic, every things alright. It's not like I'm going to go telling everyone about that. And if it makes you feel better, I'm guilty of the same thing._

But that only made the impulse stronger. Before I could actually go through with it he turned and grabbed my hand, holding it and making us walk at the same pace. My cheeks got redder at the contact, drawing more attention from Puck who kept asking questions that neither of us were answering. I was too busy being panicked and he was too busy trying to calm me down.

"What's going on with you guys? You're just as bad as Ice Boy, you know. Neither one of you talk to me and normally Revan's pretty good company. So what is it? Do you guys sense something or are you just waiting for a moment of privacy to-" he didn't get further. I turned, yanking my hand out of Revans and punching Puck in his gut as hard as possible, knocking him back and sending him sprawling to the ground. The use of my fist felt good, calming me down enough to enjoy what I had done to a small degree.

Puck looked at me bewildered as he clenched his stomach and got back on his feet. Revan put himself between us, sensing a fight coming.

"What the heck was that for?" Puck's eyes shrink to little green slits, his annoying smile gone and replaced with a snarled like he did nothing to deserve it. "First you two are completely silent and then you just hit me!" He pulls out his daggers once his stomach hurt less.

"Puck, stop. It was my fault, I shouldn't have brought it up to her just yet." Revan soothes.

I move to go around him and smack him again to feel the new panic that was rising be calmed by his pain. Revan moves in front of me.

_Not now. _His voice growled in my head.

"Brought what up? Geez, for wolves you guys sure are terrible at communication." Puck sheathes his daggers, but his hands went straight into his pockets and by Ash's stories of him that I practically begged him to tell, that is not a good sign. It either means he's going to fling three things at me: a boar, raccoon, or mud. I just hopped it was the former so I could have a good excuse to push Revan aside and gut the redhead where he stands.

_So he can't read out minds?_ I ask in my head, hopping that Revan will get it.

_No, you have to be a Spirit Wolf, but some fey have been known to carry the ability through extended time with our kind, and Puck would have to be pack for him to share telepathy with us._

Mentally I breathe a sigh of relief. If that idiot was ever inside my head I'd go mad and have to kill him. It's bad enough that I already had one person searching through my dreams and seeing the two of us dirty the sheets, it'd be downright crazy if I had do share those thoughts with another person. Revan bristled at my thought. I don't know how I knew it was my thought he didn't like but I just knew. Like the bond that was almost physical.

_What?_ I ask, unsure if the thought even reached him or if I was sending it somewhere else.

Puck glowered, barely making an effort to be sarcastic. "See? There you two go again with that silent 'no-talkie' thing. How in the world am I supposed to know what you two are talking about if ya don't say anything?"

Revan just stopped what he was doing, didn't spare either one of us a second glance, and walked ahead. I stared at Puck, deciding if I should try and kill him now, and he apparently did the same.

Puck looked at his back. "What did you say with your magic mind communication thing? Was it about the time I snuck into his room and looked in that box, because I swear that I put it back." He held up his hands, deciding against it.

I walk after him quickly, catching up to him and trying to figure out what I had thought that offended him.

_**He led us to a town that was **_very colorful and warm. People walked along the clean streets, talking joyfully and the occasional ones holding hands. All of the buildings were in bright colors and had names of shop printed on the insides of the windows with various kick-knacks hanging In the windows. No one noticed as we wove our way into the streets and moved with ease through the town.

All of the mortal technology was sickening, making my stomach lurch and my skin tingle with the thought of touching all of it. Metal window lining, metal street lamps, metal cars, metal wires, metal watches, phones, sewer pipes under the ground, all of it stunk of Iron. I don't understand how I could have not noticed this horrible, sickening feeling when I lived in a shady version of this town with even more metal.

Puck was having the same reaction, but hiding it much easier then I was. He walked like the Iron hardly bothered him and the poison wasn't as effective on him. It was my first thought to snarl at him and shove him into the nearest metal pole. My reasonable thoughts said that it was a good idea to just ignore him and continue to try to figure out what had caused Revan to get so angry and, again, how to get them both to leave.

_I'm not leaving._

I crossed my arms and huffed, just about fed up with this behavior of his.

One of the teens walking down the street, a chunky, short, brightly dressed woman that could be in her late thirties, bumped into me, hitting me with her Iron watch and her steaming hot coffee popping open and drenching my clothes.

The hot liquid burned like boiling water and I yelped in pain, holding my ribs, where both the boiling liquid and the iron burned my skin. The lady stops and looks at me, her green eyes wide with shock.

"Oh my gosh, sweetie, I'm so sorry!" She squeaked and pulled out McDonald's napkins that matched her coffee cup that was still in her hand and started to try and wipe my clothes clean.

"Why and the hell is it so hot?" I hiss, stretching my clothes out in front of me while the rest of the liquid runs down my clothes and gets soaked, burning more flesh.

Puck laughed and clenched his gut, gasping with mirth while Revan just stared at me and did nothing, making me angrier. Even nearby people on the street came forward and asked if everything was alright, if they could do anything to help once they noticed it was from McDonalds. **McD's have very, very hot coffee so if you ever get any please wait five to ten minuet's before drinking. Once this guy got a fresh hot cup, took a huge gulp, and got 3****rd**** degree burns down his throat and had tissue damage, suing the company effectively. Just a safety warning because **_**that **_**sounds painful.**

"It's from McDonald's, I just got it." After the woman exhausted her napkins she nervously cracked her knuckles. "I'm sorry, I didn't see you coming. You were just…there in a split second."

The world spun funny and gave me a nauseous feeling, making my quick slap miss and me to stumble backwards, almost falling on my rear. The fabric of the clothed frayed and dissolved, leaving a big hole in my black hunting tunic that was soaked, dirty, and it revealed the black iron burn that hisses furiously.

A man spoke from the small crowd that gathered, pulling out his phone. "That looks nasty- I'll call a taxi and get you a ride to the hospital."

I jerked, remembering just how bad hospitals were for me. When I was maybe four years old I broke my arm, and this was before we learned of my 'allergy' to iron, they poked and prodded me with iron utensils that had very nearly killed me. My adoptive parents, before they turned to utter asses, had a fit and sued the hospital for unsanitary equipment. "No," I told the man with only a slight whimper. "Don't."

Puck calmed down enough to speak, not seen or heard by the crowd. "What's the matter, Icy? Iron to hot?"

"Please tell me you're okay, just don't take this to the court, it wasn't on purpose." The woman begged, also getting out her _Iron_ phone.

_We need a place to stay. Ask her. _Revan says, choosing now to talk when I couldn't really reply because of the pain and the current situation. I was tempted to ignore the crowd of humans and talk to him and find out why he wanted to stop. Riley needed punishment!

I look at the lady and let my knees go weak, leaning more on one leg then the other and allowing more of the sickened nausea I felt slide into my expression. "I think you did it on purpose." I hissed and feigned like I needed someone to lean on, but also because I kind of did need to, feeling the Iron work its way into my system.

The woman's eyes got wide. People eyed her suspiciously. "I didn't! You have to believe me!" I might have given her a break, but it wasn't me she begged, it was the crowd. "It was an accident, I swear!"

The man from before stepped up and draped my arm around his shoulders, letting me lean on him for support. These people are so stupid, no one back home would have believed me if I pulled a stunt like this. They'd laugh and shove me into the street for the fun of it. The cars wouldn't even slow down if you got in there way on accident. He narrowed his brown eyes at the woman, "Relda, I think you said enough. I'm going to take this poor girl to the hospital."

She looked at me and begged one last time, "Please, please, I'll do anything, just don't take this to court!"

And I got her. "Anything?" I look at her and give her the smallest, faintest of smirks. She caught it and her left eye twitched, her nice face frowning out of more than panic and concern.

She was about to say something else, but the crowd eyed her with distrust.

"Because that was some strong coffee. Makes me think that you could have put something else in there to make that burn." That won everyone over. They protested her and gave angry mob like shouts.

She buckled under the pressure, biting her lip and digging out her wallet from her black purse. "Fine. What do you want?"

Easy.


	14. Gay?

**So I wanted to do this chapter in someone else's POV. I had a chapter planned out, kind of, but it got deleted by the no battery left sign and I didn't want to retype hundred, over a thousand words, when it wasn't that good of a chapter anyway. So I'm going to have this chapter from… Revans POV!**

**It isn't my style to just keep with the romance but this is needed for the story plot so you are going to have to deal with the fluff and drama for now. Next chapter should be back into the action!**

**Revans POV**

_**The lady that had spilt coffee **_on Crystal had bought us a room in a modest, local hotel down the road about a mile from the scene. This town was always nice and had an old fashioned charm about it that made it a good place for Spirit Wolves to visit. In this town the Fey could not enter unless granted permission by an Alpha, which I had done for Puck when we came into this town and Baraga. Baraga was the opposite of this town, Crystal knew it, and took advantage of it. I hadn't expected her to manipulate the kind woman; I just thought she'd ask for a place to stay.

Puck had been good about helping me get her through the front doors without causing a scene about her injury, glamouring it out of mortal sight. I trusted Puck, Robin Goodfellow, with our lives. He's one of my oldest friends and trusts me. We've known each other since the time that he had stolen the Ring of Lightening from the lightening God. I had been tracking him down but he managed to trick me into a bargain, and this was when I was very young and before I got a 'Pack', that said if I helped him get away, unscathed, from the lightening God then I could have the ring. That was the beginning of our crusade between the worlds, generally just pissing people off.

Then I had heard of Maxilim, the Alpha of Alphas, had a child with the Winter Queen. I was baffled. Everyone who knew about it was baffled. It wasn't out of pure lust, or romance, or love. Crystal, my mate, was created out of trickery. Maxilim wanted a child, a powerful one, for an agenda that has not been named, so he turned to the coldest, meanest, most powerful ones who would be willing to do it. Titiana and Mab. Titiana was complicated. He tried to trick her but failed. She was too enamored at the time with a human girl she brought to court and wouldn't give anyone the time of day to say hello. So, he turned to Mab. He waited until there was a night where she had some wine to drink, slipped a potion of _Desire_ into her drink, and approached her. He had asked the Queen for a dance, not caring about the social rules, and she accepted the dance, her eyes filled with desire. Later that evening, Crystal was conceived.

I had interest along with Puck so we went to the town that she was being kept at. The town was filled with iron and had a strong barrier around it. Once it was discovered that Crystal's fey heritage was dominant he had trapped her there to die off. The process was only supposed to take a few weeks. But she lasted longer than what should have been possible, making her father furious. Maxilim allowed the three princes to enter the no fey zone and take her back to faery so he could do the deed himself.

So I decided that I wasn't going to let him murder my only pack member. I snuck into the Unseelie Territory and guarded her, made sure that she slept on her bed, and filled her dance card for her welcoming ball. Now that our telepathy abilities have formed we're inseparable. I already searched through her thoughts, though that can only be done with current thoughts, and dreams, fears and hopes, knowing everything about her. I need to teach her about the ways of the Spirit Wolf so that she could understand that she needed to resist her Unseelie nature and not become soulless.

Puck opened the door to our room that rested on the bottom floor, immediately searching through the mini fridge in search of food and drinks for himself. I carried Crystal into the room, ignoring her protests and keeping my anger at her in mind. All the way here she had been trying to figure out what she had thought that made me upset. I could feel her almost nonexistent, like all of her emotions, confusion.

Crystal is beautiful. Petite curves that are muscled, pale completion, eyes that are blacker then a night without stars, and black hair that's soft and short, though uneven. Like all sidhe she has pointed ears and inhumanly beautiful looks, but she had distinct features that mark her as a Spirit Wolf. The soul in her shines through her eyes and the small, frosty freckles splattered across her nose, and her scent, water, which is her element.

She winced with each step, and I tried to smooth the ride for her. She stared at me intensely, keeping her face emotionless when, on the inside, her emotions were confused and her thoughts often drifting toward lustful thoughts before snapping back to her musings. But that was natural for even half Spirit Wolves; to lust after their chosen someone.

If I wasn't upset with her then I would probably be allowing my thoughts to travel to similar places and do some exploring. Since she had basically thought that our special connection was weird and gross, implying that she didn't want me, made me a little more than angry.

I rested her on the bed, being as gentle as possible. She grabbed my hand and pulled me down beside her. I sat on the edge of the bed and held her cold hand. She was like a moving block of ice that weighed so little, and was colder then snow. How winter fey survived without heat is a mystery to me. The burn and passion of fire is something that everyone needs in their lives. Fire means heat, life, and destruction and passion.

"Ugh, please don't tell me that you two are planning on doing the dirty duggy. I just got you to stop that under a day ago." Puck comments and drinks his soda whilst holding a bag of chips.

_Why won't you talk to me?_ She asks through our special communication. She couldn't naturally read my thoughts and dreams unless she focused on it for a few minuets'. It was surprising that she could even send me mind messages.

_Because you insulted our connection. It's an insult to think that you wouldn't want to share this with me. With Puck I can understand. He's a big enough handful outside of our minds._ She laughed at the last part, which was what I was going for.

_Sorry._

That I was taken aback by. She hardly ever said that she was sorry, in _all_ of her life. And even when she did it sounded forced and insincere. This sounded honest, and she felt like it to. Her hand slid farther up my arm and I moved down toward her slowly. We both could feel Puck's grimace. He got up and walked out the door, undoubtedly going to say hello to the rest of the hotel and its staff members with a few pranks.

I brush my nose against hers and wait, loving the feel of her rising frustration at my distance. The longer we're together the harder it gets to keep distancing yourself from your chosen someone. It's like putting two magnets apart and there pull keeps getting stronger. Eventually, whether they want to or not, they are pulled to each other. Considering she's only half she must not be noticing it as much as a full blood would.

_Why does the iron burn so much now? Before it wasn't nearly as bad._

This was one I had to ponder for a moment. It didn't make much sense that the hurt suddenly increased out of nowhere, there had to be a logical explanation for it. To distract her while I thought I placed a kiss on her upper lip, feeling her cold lips resist at first, then melt and softly kiss back. Then, having my answer, I pulled back and stared into her dark eyes.

_Because in faery your fey side got stronger and healed. Since you were born you sat in that iron filled town and felt that pain for all of your life. It was the pain and sick feeling that you got so used to that you couldn't remember was there._

When she was small she got sick a lot. Her parents and the doctors thought it was because of a weak immune system, but it was because of the iron. Around the time when she was three I had to steal her away in the night and bring her into the woods, a party, or somewhere where there was lots of glamour for her to regain some strength before she had to be put back. Of course, she didn't remember that. I had to stop when she got around ten because that was the time when she left herself and prowled the streets to get away from her family.

The lights went out and the door closed. Crystal grinned mischievously and grabbed my arms, rolling me to the other side of the bed in a single motion and rolled on top, her expression tightening from the pain. I opened my mouth to protest and tell her to wait until she was healed to be moving around, and was stopped, the extremely cold feel of hands going down my chest. Goose bumps spread over my skin, making her impish grin grow slightly bigger. Her freezing hands stop at the belt up my pants.

My heart raced and my breathing quickened. My hands went to her hips and slid up her waist,

_Not so fun to be teased, is it? _She brushed herself against me and I grit my teeth, tilting my head back.

_Not fair._

I look in her mind, figuring out her agenda. She had finally accepted our relationship a while ago, but wasn't acting on rational thoughts. Her thoughts were fuzzy and impossible to understand; only raw animal instinct motivated her.

My instincts pulled at me to respond and almost made my body act without permission. I didn't follow it. Even then it was hard to not think about where she was leading this conversation. And the more I thought about it the more I liked it.

Crystal saw my resistance and leaned down and pressed her lips to mine, thinking thoughts so I could hear. _Too bad this can't go too far._ _Because I barely know anything about you._

_You can._ I break the kiss, both of us breathing hard. _Just look into my memory._ I kiss the spot below her ear, behind her jaw line, making her gasp and her hands grip my shoulders hard. Nibbling on her cold skin, I rendered her thoughtless, making her moan. We stayed like that, me kissing and biting her skin, her trying to gain control of her thoughts long enough to form a word.

_It could go further is you let it. I could make you happy if you stopped resisting our relationship,_ I paused to feel just how deep her thoughts were in the gutter. She thought of our clothes on the floor and us under the blankets, making it so tempting to live those fantasies, but it was too soon. We need time before we do something that serious. And she knew it too.

_There won't be a relationship to have if you come with me._

_Why?_ There was no answer. She stayed silent and caught her breath, fighting the lustful thoughts and regaining control of herself. Crystal got up and slid off of me, wincing at the pain on her ribs the entire way. _Why?_ I ask again. Her thoughts were blocked off from me, making me stagger mentally. I had no idea how she did that or how it was even possible. My anger flared at her.

"I can't feel you anymore. Is that normal?" She asked and faced me, genuine curiosity in her eyes.

"No." I readjust me pants and stand up with her, keeping my distance lest we forget ourselves again. Then, the connection came back, full and real. We both relaxed.

"It might have been because this whole…connection thing is so new. It might take a while for it too…stay?" That sounded right, but no one else I knew about had this issue.

"Maybe." I put on a teasing smirk and remove my hunting shirt, making her blush. "Now try to keep those thoughts innocent while I take a shower. Or not. At least then I can know just what you want me to do to you."

Crystal huffed and shoved me, wincing again, and stalking out of the room. "I'm going into town to find a party or something, so see you later."

I struck a mocking perverted pose and winked at her. "There's a party in here."

She laughed and opened the door, having her sleeve cover her hand so the metal door knob didn't burn her hand. "I'll go tell Puck you're waiting for him."

"Hey!" She starts running down the hall and I chase after her, hoping that I'd be able to catch her and show her, in the least innocent sense, that I am not gay.

**I know I know, it's a short chapter. No one reviewed my last one so you don't get the complete 2,500 words!**


	15. The Final Letter

**Back to Crystals POV.**

I made my way through the lower part of town, seeing a complete contrast of the upper town where our hotel was located. This part of town was quiet and shady, trash flowing freely in the wind and street art everywhere. Some people in wife beaters and ripped pants were either passed out or doped up in the alley ways, staring at me with curiosity as we passed by. I was surprised I hadn't found any fey here. The glamour was somewhat good from street art and the freely dreaming mind of the drugged.

I glamour myself some new clothes to blend in and cover my iron wound that was slowly getting easier to bare, with more glamour around. The numbness that I got when I wasn't with Revan came back and prevented any sort of feeling and idea besides healing myself.

I just gave up trying to resist him. For one it just hurt too much trying to get rid of him and two, if I left without him he would find me and stop me and be pissed for all eternity. But that last kiss with him, in the bedroom, was addicting. He had chased me down the hall and throughout most of the hotel, trying to catch me and prove that he was not gay. I slowed down eventually, seeing if he would be able to, but he got a pie in the face by a child that ran out of the kitchen, allowing me to lose him.

So I winded up here after a while, appearing to be in a dark tee shirt and some pants. There was a club somewhere here. There is always some kind of club in this part of town. All I had to do was find it and heal enough so I could fight and kill a particularly dangerous animal in the Nevernever for some armor and weapons. If we were all going to hell then we are going to need some tough stuff to keep out hides from burning.

At my feet was a white envelope.

I stop and stare at it. Something about this seemed important. Mainly because the edges were burned brown and black, and it smelled like death. Picking it up I tore it open.

_Dear Bitch,_

_ Helloooooooo again! I've watched you and your puppy and that knife eared red head in town, in the hotel, and pretty much all day. Lucifer found out that I've been writing you and said that I could deliver my last message as long as I let him write a piece._

_ Anyway! I just wanted to tell you just how much I'm looking forward to returning the favor with the dagger you hit me with. My dagger is going to peel off your skin and carve your bones out, while you're awake for the whole show. Can't wait for our sisterly bonding! Oh! And I also wanted to thank you for Sage. He's a yummy one, but not as good as Rowan, who keeps bleeding all over the place. Rowan sure appreciates the break, though. Hahaha! _

_ Kk, here is Lucifer._

_ Hello, Crystal. I am writing to you so you can know that if you come here now, alone and unarmed, that I will not allow your murder. You can live. You living in exchange for the death of the traitor Revan. Kill him now and come here or lead him here, it makes no difference to me. Maxilim cannot hurt you in my realm if I do not condone it. Should you choose to live then you will spend eternity as my servant. A fair trade, don't you think? Your brothers, Ash, Sage, and Rowan will be released back into the Nevernever, alive and whole, if you choose to agree to these terms._

_If you and you should, agree to these terms, then you can inform me later tonight in your dreams. I will be waiting there. And if you're still not convinced that this is the best choice then remember that I am not the worst demon you will come across, and that Jeramadey has found you._

_From,_

_Lucifer and Riley_

I fold the paper and put it my pocket, choosing to ignore it until later. But I wondered who Jeramadey was, and what he meant when he mentioned that he wasn't the worst demon. Demons are demons, no more no less. Do they really have a scale of which one is more demon-ly than the other? I would have to ask Revan about that, or Lucifer once I went to sleep tonight.

When I look back up everything was gone. The bodies, the trash flowing around, and the faint sound of music that came from inside people's houses. Dogs no longer barked and the sound of muffled yelling came to a stop. The light of the sun was dimmed until it was almost non-existent. I looked around and confirmed that I was the only thing left besides the street and the buildings. It was a scene out of a horror story. I might have been edgy if I could still feel something.

My connection with Revan was snapped again. I looked around wildly, feeling a twinge of panic that I hadn't expected. This had already happened once and when it did I could hear a voice around us, in the shadows, speaking in a female voice that was too quick and to hysterical to understand.

Around me were only the dark shadows of the alleys and the dim light of the sun. There was nothing. Yet. But that could change quickly unless I find out what's happened and fix it. I create two small ice daggers in my hand and put my back to the filthy wall, creeping along the sides and in the darkness, hoping to avoid attention of possible things nearby if there were any.

I sweep my gaze around the dark empty neighborhood, finding nothing but the same surroundings as before. It was much too quiet. Something, or someone, had brought me here for a reason. _Was this what Lucifer meant when he said that Jeramadey had found me?_ It was too possible to say it wasn't. Found as in she knows where I am. The worst I could run into as in she's coming for me. It's the only thing I got for an explanation. I just hope I don't have to deal with the crazy demon now, without armor on and with no idea what in the hell I'm doing.

The voice echoes in the distance before me. I snap my head in the direction and brace myself to roll out of the way and block a blow. Nothing happened and nothing was there. I was looking directly at a house with broken windows, a faded yellow outside that was peeling, and a door that was wide open. The rotting door creaked as it swung on its hinges, opening the house up to me. There was nothing in the doorway or in the windows, but the hysterical voice continued to snicker and mumble. I take a breath to steady myself.

I looked away, the house in my peripheral vision. Something moved.

It ducked inside the house. The thing was a blurred shadow and impossible to see, though its star was leveled on me. I could feel it.

"Come_…_" Her sadistic voice crooned and insane, worried chuckling followed.

That was a bad idea. I was safer out her with some light so see and with more open space. I wasn't good at close spaces and dancing around someone; not enough room. Maybe if I stay out here she'll get bored and come, like the Summer Court did at the Reaping Grounds. They starved the Unseelie of blood and gore until they got so impatient they attacked mindlessly and lost. That option seemed better then walking into an obvious trap.

A pressure from deep within yanked me away from the wall in a powerful pull, dragging me across the street helplessly. The ground scratched my back hard. I hit the steps and felt my back crack with each one I was pulled up, screaming the entire way, before I was pulled into the dark house. I shut my eyes tightly and gripped my daggers, stabbing them at the ground to try and stop myself from going. But it was useless.

When I stopped my back hurt and my iron wound was bleeding and stretched. I winced and lay there, groaning. My heart was beating frantically in my ears. The insane whimpering from the woman echoed from around me, not coming from a particular direction.

The whimpering got angry and she was spitting out unintelligible words. A pressure was on my neck, pressing down to the floor and cutting off my air. The long and boney fingers squeezed and the sharp nails pierced the back of my neck. I stabbed at where the arm was, but my blades passed straight through where it was and melted into boiling hot liquid, spilling on my face. I screamed but no sound came out besides weak choking sounds.

"You, you, you," She screamed. She lifted me off of the ground and threw me across the pitch black room. I hit the wall and crashed to the floor that was covered in glass. My side got glass merged into the skin.

I gasp for air and try to light a ball of fire in my hand. The blue energy sparked for a second, showing nothing in the trashed house, then went out.

The voice was right far away and quiet, almost like it was talking to herself. "Just like me, Lost is. Just like me," She takes in an understanding breath. "No."

Pushing myself off of the ground I stand and try to light the flame again, imagining Rowan spitting insults at me until I did it. The flame sparked again for a second. My heart leapt and I slammed into the wall behind me. Black holes stared at me, inches from my face, surrounded by the face of burned flesh, her hair on fire that didn't glow. Black horned came from her brow, sticking up in the air. She screamed at me, "Lost"

My foot flew to her chest area and her face disappeared, but my foot hadn't hit anything. I stumble forward, the flame gone out. "What are you?" I scream back, stomping forward.

Sharp points tore into the skin on my back and lifted me up. I screamed in agony, thrashing around rapidly and screaming for no reason.This was a nightmare, it had to be. Stuff like this doesn't happen outside of a movie screen! I must have passed out from…something!

I was carried further into the house, away from the outside. We rounded a corner, and the front door slammed shut.

"You aren't like me, like me you're not!" She cried, weeping and gripping my skin harder. The pain was searing enough for me to scream out again. "You will be…being is later, now is past and past is before later."

The Thing carried me through the house for possibly hours, mumbling those same lines over and over. The sides of the walls were on fire, burning people with shards of bone impaled in them. They reached out to me, screaming the most horrible screams, screaming my name and begging for escape, to run, and just screaming. Black smoke filled my lungs and made it impossible to breathe without coughing.

The Thing dropped me on my back on piles of hot ashes, provoking more screams the longer I stayed on them. It just kept burning and burning.

"_**Hey, you okay? You've been standing**_ here for over five hours."

My eyes refocus onto one of the street boys that lay in the alley way. He was dark skinned and in a beer stained wife beater, holding a joint that smelled like weed. He stared at me in such a sober manner it was hard to believe that he was just passed out.

I blinked at him then reeled, expecting the searing pain to come rushing back and the Thing to be whispering to me again. He raised a calm eyebrow. "That must be some good shit. What are you on?"

"I-I'm not on anything." I stuttered and looked at my hands. They had scratch marks from where the glass was, but not in pain or bleeding. The letter was gone.

A snort. "Right."

It was past twilight and the stars were out. _Crap, Revan and Puck are probably looking for me._ "You know how to get back to the upper town?"

The man takes a drag from his cigar. "Ah, you must be one of the tourists. Sure, sure. Not safe for a chick to be out this late, anyways."

I flinch at the heat from the cigar, remembering the ashes.

"So where're ya staying? You seem jumpy."

He leads us down the sidewalk. People, no longer doped up, stood in the shadows. This time they carried knives and wore black leather jackets. This defiantly wasn't the same town as the people who helped us when we first got here. The glamour was stronger though, healing me little by little.

I try to recall the name of the hotel but one didn't come to mind. I expected to be back before night so it might be a bit easier to find my way back. "Um….don't remember… it's not your business anyway. You just gotta take me back to the upper town. I can find my own way then."

We walk in silence for a while. I was checking every ally way for her face and listening for any insane chatter. Luckily there was none. Just humans staring as we passed, paying us no major attention. That didn't last forever.

**So what do you guys think? I thought that was a pretty good haunted house thingy going on. I'm a little rusty on that genre though. I've been on such a long stretch of fluff and fantasy. Still, no excuses, if it's bad then my fault.**


	16. Recouperation

**Courtesy of ninja princess LW, Ana and Spencer, two lovely characters she had created that will be used in this story chapter, maybe two. **

_**Three humans stalked out of the shadows, **_circling us like hungry animals. Like everyone else on the streets they had knives on their belts, leather jackets, and ragged jeans. The middle one, who stood in front of us, was the biggest, at least twice my size and he flicked out a switch blade, smirking with the cigarette in his mouth.

"Well lookie here, boys. JR brought us a fey."

I looked over at 'JR' and wondered if it was his intention to get us into this mess. Then I realize what I did. I just followed a complete stranger in a shady part of town that I know nothing about. It's like I'm a noob all over again, making the biggest mistake you can make. Especially since they know I'm a fey and they have lots of iron on.

JR gave me a mischievous grin and walked into the circle. He was the smallest of them all. "Yep, you guessed it." He turned to the one standing next to him and said, "Must be pretty stoned since she actually followed me."

I growl and bare my teeth at him. "You better run while your legs still work."

They all laughed.

The lead one introduced him-self in the thick local accent that was so bland and formal it didn't seem normal. "Names Jimmy Jefferson, faery. And you know what I'd like to know?" Jimmy paused for me to answer, twirling the knife in his hands.

"I don't answer to you; now get out of my way." I went to push past him, brushing the sighted mortals off. They were defiantly not my top thing to take care of because my connection to Revan isn't there, I have not a freaking clue where I am, I'm seeing crazy demons that are trying to kill me, and I still need to find a party to heal this damn iron wound! Mortals can piss the fuck off.

He puts the blade to my throat in a blur, too fast for humans to move. I stop in my tracks, getting sick feelings at the blades close distance. "I'd like to know how you got into town. So which Alpha let you in?"

"You're Spirit Wolves?" They didn't seem like it. The only ones I met were cold and solemn, these people were trouble makers, and overly aggressive. They just didn't seem like wolves. An animal came to mind but I wasn't sure. The animal fit the description for behavior but that said animal never picks a fight that it can't win.

They all snort laughter. "Hell no, those guys are way too stiff." Or, "Wolves suck." And, "Wolves aren't tough enough."

Every one of their comments was insulting. I bristled with anger. "Oh really? Let's put your theory to the test, _mutts._" I grabbed the guys hand that held the knife, the others stopped laughing and drew there's, while I twisted his arm upside down, his elbow bent upwards in an uncomfortable position. I slam my fist down onto the elbow, forcing it to break inward. He screamed painfully, gaining the attention from people around us.

The other three charged. I shoved the leader away and moved as fast as possible, dodging and maneuvering through their attacks and avoiding the iron. The emotions welled up inside of me, the terror, fear, hate, anger, and glee, as I broke their bones and stabbed tem with ice. There yelps of pain sounded like weak dogs that wanted out. When they lay dean on the side walk I breathe heavily, shaking from the emotions. I collapse to my knees and try to suppress the fear. I was caked in blood, the sight making my fangs lengthen and the bodies behind me become a tempting snack, like always.

The stared of nearby people grew, and some edged forward with knives drawn, deep, angered frowns on their faces.

"Crystal!" Shouts someone behind me. I stand and brush myself off, trying to regain some dignity from letting all of those emotions, as frail as they were, out so easily. The bon was back full force and it connected me to Revan once again. He was the one right behind me and the sound of dozens of cawing ravens echoed a ways away.

Revan stopped behind me and was staring at the bodies. I faced away from him and eyed the nearby groups of those people. "They started it." I claim, still shaking from the sudden burst of panic and fear, which only made me angry.

His footsteps slashed forward and he spun me around to face him. The look in his eye was one of worry. He was prodding my head and searching for clues. "So you killed them?"

"I'm not about to just let them gut me in the middle of the streets." I cast a glance to the bodies and see their guts on the sidewalk, realizing that's just what I did to them. "Can we go find a party now? This place is dead."

Revan looked at all of the people in the shadows. They stopped coming forward and waited. "Coyotes." He mumbled. "Let's go."

He led me through the streets and held my hand the entire way. All of the Coyotes stayed back from him and snarled at me. Puck soon joined us in a burst of feathers, rambling on. Even his chatter was comforting to listen to. The whole supernatural experience from earlier was not something I want to do again, and his chatter distracted me from those thoughts. So, being completely unlike myself, I joined in the chatter. They both stared at me for a few minutes.

Those thoughts about the demon and the letter drew my attention easily. It was no doubt that the one who had dropped me onto a pile of ashes was the one who Lucifer had mentioned. And it was no secret that I was unprepared to go fight in hell if I couldn't beat the Thing. That would have to be fixed and fixed soon along with my iron wound that burned so badly.

In no time the streets became not so dirty and the street lamps were regular and working. The buildings were in shape and decorated with taste. Only one place on the entire block was loud music coming from it, one with a huge line of people trying to get inside. Men with their buddies, laughing and messing around, girls with skimpy outfits that immediately drew the men's attention. The thing was they must have been all just over 21, and some teenagers. Figures, the adults in this town are so stiff. Glamour literally poured out of the club in huge waves.

Puck made a loud sniffing sound, clapping his hand together and rubbing them quickly together. "Mmm, the smell of passion." He commented and I agreed. It was amazing. Revan gave us a look. Of course he couldn't understand; he wasn't fey. My iron burn was already healing and closing.

We stop a ways away from the front with some people already staring at us.

"Come on, it's going to be a long wait." Revan tried to pull us toward the back of the line.

Puck snorts and I almost do too.

"Come on, Wolf. Waiting? Do you remember who I am? Robin Goodfellow doesn't wait in lines for a party." A ripple of glamour passed over us and we disappeared. The people in the line looked everywhere, mouths gaping and soon looking other places, rationalizing.

"Let's just wait. The line's not even that long. The smell of _passion _can wait." He said sarcastically.

Another one of those sick, twisted ideas popped into my head. The kind that involved teasing him and running off, having him chase me and then letting him catch me at the last second. That didn't work so well last time though, with the pie and all. I have no idea where these ideas are coming from and I would want to know so I can eliminate it and not get to heavily involved with him. And the thing is it's really hard to not want to do the 'tease-and-run.'

I use the glamour from the club and change my hoodie for a tank top. The last time I was at a place like this and I wore a hoodie I almost melted from heat.

_Ha, I remember those days. Like the time when you got so drunk I had to carry you home. It wasn't even past curfew and you got drunk._

I responded, _It's kind of creepy how you know everything about me and I know nothing about you._

_You can know everything about me. All you have to do is look inside my mind._

_ And how do I do that?_

"Geez, can you stop doing the 'communicating- with-our-eyes' thing? It's kind of super creepy. So, if you'll come inside when you're good and oh so ready, I'll be talking to the blonde over there." Puck walked off to the club, his shirt suddenly missing, showing off hardened chest and back muscles. He strut up to the blonde at the front of the line and began talking with her.

"You can wait in line if you want. I'll just go inside and heal from my burning iron wound that could have killed me," I start to walk slowly to the entrance while trying to tempt him into not waiting in line. "and hope that someone will come and share a dance, a drink, and who knows what else." I make a picture of us kissing in my head. For all I knew that could be it for getting him to come with. We needed to do some planning If we were going to get into hell, no more delaying it. That all starts tonight.

First, we need armor. I want the strongest armor possible to that way I can slap some on the both of them to make sure they make it out okay, though I could care less about Puck, and I know just the animal from the Nevernever to give us the required scales. We, and I mean I, are going to have to kill the most dangerous beast in Faery, one that I'm not going to let Revan-and okay, Puck too- near it. I'm going to kill a Jabberwocky.

**Please Don't be mad, ninja princess LW's characters will be in here next chapter but I needed to make an announcement.**

**I am going to make a home-made, non-professional, movie of the Iron King. All rights to the publishing company and to Julie Kagawa, I take no credit for the characters, plot, and story, anything other than the artwork. It will take a long time because I am still learning the ways of Photo shop and I have not the slightest clue how to do audio files just yet. But hey, this book deserves a movie, even if it's a rag tag, inexperienced fan that takes no credit for Julies amazing work. Once the movie is ready I will see if I can somehow ask Julie if it is okay for it to be posted on YouTube, and if not then sorry. **

**So please forgive the sudden lacking of updates, but this story will be finished and I will try to update at least twice a month. Oh, and if I disappear for a while then my computer crashed. I have the worst luck with that, I swear.**

**One more thing. If I do find out how to audio then I will ask some of you to do the voices…If you want. The movie will only be made official if Julie gives the okay. Once again, don't sue me for being an obsessive fan, I take no credit besides the artwork that I will personally do.**

**On my next update I will provide a link to see what the characters look like and if you all approve. This movie is going to be made true to the book unlike the Hollywood ones.**


	17. The final straw

The inside of the club was alive and pulsing with energy. People danced, sang, drank, laughed, and so much more. Lights flashed wildly and the smoke of illegal drugs filled the place, and that was something I turned my nose up at. Drugs are just not my thing.

I sat at the bar and ordered a drink from a tall, red headed bartender. I almost started trying to ask him about Jabberwockies when I realized it wasn't Puck. His shoulders were to bride and he didn't have enough muscle, or the annoying grin.

The Puck look alike handed me my drink, did the classic Baraga head nod that I would recognize anywhere, and said, "Eh its Freak! How you doin' chickita?"

I squinted at him, examining him very closely. It wasn't a Puck look alike, it was Josh, one of the Spanish nerds. He was the life of the party, always bouncing around and talking in a thick UP accent, much like a Canadians. But his hair is normally a light brown. "Josh? What are you doing here?"

"I'm in college, its right down the road. Needed a job so I got hired here." He served several other people drinks before he came back. "And what are you doing here? Last I heard you went missing three years ago with your parents and brother dead, and your sister missing too." He raises an eyebrow. "Got anything to do with you?"

"I don't need to tell you." I take a small drink of the burning liquid. "Its not like you'd understand anyway."

I look over my shoulder and see Puck dancing with the same blonde in the line. She had green eyes and a skimpy outfit, dancing in the techno and rock music like an epileptic. I laughed at them, Puck dancing graceful and smoothly in a choreographed dance while she was looking like she had a disorder. Priceless.

Josh shrugged and continued to serve drinks, wiping down the bar as he went. "You're right, I wouldn't know anything about Mab and Maxilim and Robin Goodfellow dancing with the quarterbacks sister. So yes, you are totally right for not filling me in."

I was jolted with shock, baffled at what he just said. I turned and gave his a strange glare. Was he a Spirit Wolf to or was he..something else? I looked at him closely, looking for pointed ears, unusual eyes, wings, a second head that I might have missed, anything that would tell me he is t human. Or was he Sighted?

"So, your on a quest to save your brothers? And I'm assuming Revan Is with you, too." He shook his head and chuckled. "Damn dog. He could never keep outta trouble."

"How do you know about this anyway?" I pressed.

He grinned a very Puckish smile, pushing the resemblance so far I almost punched him, believing it was a prank. "I'm a Spirit Coyote, or Coyote Spirit, but the latter sounds so much better for the ears."

I growled in frustration. Why was it I was never filled in on all of the animals of the freaking spirit woods? Was there a difference you find in the Mortal World? Revan is going to fill me in on this.

_Coyotes are mischeveous, tricksters, and bare the knowledge that everything is sacred, yet nothing is sacred. Maybe if you came out here and waited I could tell you face to face, pup._

_My iron wound is healing. If it doesn't heal soon then it could get infected from the coffee._

"Inside conversation?" Josh pulls me back into reality. I stare into his green eyes that looked at me with the all knowing look.

"Sort of. You being one of the Spirit Coyotes doesn't explain how you know. So tell me." I slam the rest of my drink, feeling the strong alcohol start to make my mind fuzzy, and slam the glass on the conter without breaking it. "How do you know?"

We stare each other down. He's hideing someing behind those green eyes, and I want to know what his plan is, what he knows, and I want to know it now. The music blares around us but goes unnoticed, and the loud talking and screaming faded until it was just us waiting for the other to back down.

A presence moved up beside me, sitting very, very close. I didn't look away from Josh and he didn't look away from me.

"Sup? My name is Spencer Wellington, I'm the college quarterback." The presence, Spencer, said in my ear.

_Great_. I thought. _Another Spirit Animal. Is there even a real human in this town? _

_Who is it? _Revan asked._  
_

_He says his name is Spencer, the college quarterback. _

_"_Umm, hello?" He slurs, drunk.

Josh looks away to help another person at the bar and I grin victoriously, blinking to get the dry feeling off. After that I look at Spencer. Tall, over six feet, dirty blonde hair, bright blue eyes, a strong build, and the scent of alcohol on his breath so bad I caught a buzz from it. He wasn't that impressive. I could beat him in an arm wresting match if he was human. Then again, my arms aren't very small.

I frown, putting a chill in the air. "Leave."

"C'mon, I just wanted to say hi."

Josh laughs and whispers to someone further down the bar, "Ill bet five bucks on her boyfriend."

The patron responded with a smirk in his voice, "I bet a favor on the girl."

"Deal."

I looked for the patron Josh was speaking too but Josh had moved on and the patron was blended into the crowd. Things were about to get nasty between those two because someone as getting a favor. Turning back to Spencer briskly, I noticed the girl Puck had been dancing with was making her way over to the bar, stumbling around and bumping into everyone. "Don't care. Leave."

Spencer looked at me with big eyes, putting a hand on mine. "Ya don't even know me."

My hand tightened into a fist. "And you don't want to know me."

He raised a sloppy brow, that drunk grin sliding across his face. "What makes you say that? I think getting to know you seems like good fun."

I extend my fangs. "Then you don't think at all." I rip my hand away from him and back hand his jaw, sending him sprawling to the ground. I was vaguely aware of Revan standing at the door, pushing his way through the crowd. Everyone at the bar noticed along with Goodfellow, his girl, and Revan, but anyone else was blind to it all.

Spencer fought to get to his feet but kept stumbling to the floor, to drunk to even move right. I move over to him and grab his head with both of my hands, forcing him to look at me as he struggled uselessly to free himself. This one was defiantly mortal. His body froze, his eyes growing big with pain and his mouth as round as an o. I could feel his bones freezing and his muscles following, freezing from the inside out._ So right_.

Someone grabbed me by my waist and lifted me up over there shoulder, carrying me away. I hissed and hit his back, frantic to get back to the human, delicious fear. But the man kept carrying me and brought me outside. He didn't stop there. I dug my claws in his back growling and biting the hard, protective layer of leather on his back. For a moment I thought the Thing had come back for me, moving to bring me back to that pile of ashes.

The Thing brought me into an alley before if set me down. I bounced back and knelt down, preparing to Lund and tear its throat out.

Revan stared down at me. He was not happy.

I didn't care a whole lot. That was my entertainment. He had no right to ruin it!

"Why can't you just behave?" The look on his face was both disappointment and embarrassment. He was embarrassed by me because of what I am? Being a fey means that you just don't care about those things, weather he likes it or not my fey side is dominate.

I got to my feet and growled. "That is my idea of behaving."

"That's your idea of behaving? Crystal, that was wrong! We don't hurt mortals. As a Spirit-"

God, I am so sick of hearing that excuse! "I am not a Spirit Wolf!" I scream at him. "Im A Faery! Do you know what that means? I don't care about some shitty human! I don't love and I sure as hell don't give a damn about what you think I should be!"

"What's the matter with you? You were never like this before you went into the winter realm."

"Don't you bring them into this, you have nothing on them. You don't know what it's like not having a Soul, and you sure as hell don't know what it's like to be a Faery. I am not a human with pointed ears, damn it!"

Revan shouts, "I never said you were! And don't go and tell me that I don't know; you're not the only one with baggage. Ive been waiting for you to see just how alike we are. We both lost our real family to the same man, we are both half-breeds, and we _both_ are Lost Souls!" He roared me silent.

We may be similar but I will never be with him. Loving is a weakness. I should have listened to that voice when we were first by the boarder of the Winter Territory. Love is a weakness. I am going to do everything necessary to break this bond. I don't care how much time it takes for it to fade but I will not be with him another second. Both out of love and hate. With him these emotions are so strong, they come and go and change so easily. That needs to stop.

Revans eyes widen in shock and they cloud over. I steel myself. Just a final goodbye. If he didn't let me leave then I would break his legs if I had to. It was for the best and worst. His emotions were conflicted; torn between trying to get me to stay and trying to get some space. It went on like that for a while. But I didn't let myself cry or show emotion. I forced as much of the emotions down as possible and ignored the rest, trying to feel numb like Ash alway was.

Ash... I always seem to think about him somehow. Could it be that he meant more to me then what i thought? Did I still care as much as I did when I threw that spear? I hope not, or at least I think I hope not. He doesn't matter anymore. No one does. All that matters is that Riley dies. We started together and we finish together.

**Grah, my chapters are getting shorter. I lost my momentum on this story. I thought it all over so much it bores me. But I will finish it. Eventually. Oh yeah, and I am rewriting it.**

**To keep updated on the Iron Fey Movie check out my blog at .com There you can find the link to character designs.**


	18. AUTHORS NOTE!

**Sorry, all, but I bare bad news. First off, I will not be making the movie for the Iron Fey because it deserves better then my stop motion ideas and because I hope to return to the project with actuall animating skills, AND because I am pretty sure it counts as Copy Write.**

**Secondly, I would like to say that this story is being discontinued for a while. I will be working on it on my lab top but until it is finished, I have re installed my network adapter, and when I do retire it shall be with a treat. How does another veirsion of the Iron King sound since I won't be doing the movie? I've already did several chapters on that and it is still pretty goodly going.**

**So I'll be around reviewing, but I won't be updating. See ya around!**


	19. Big Brother Puck

Revan left. He left without saying goodbye. The moment I sealed myself off from him he left. It wasn't easy. I could still feel him, but he wasn't in my head like he was before. Now he was running from it. I couldn't get into his head if I tried. It was like a huge piece of me was gone and now that it was I could breathe! No one was there to stop me from living or being what I am. The emotions I felt when I was with him were fading down into nothing. It was quiet.

But he didn't say goodbye. Revan didn't say good-bye, he didn't try to stop me, and he just left. That hurt. Badly. I was at the very least going to say good-bye. _I am faster than him. No matter how far he runs I can be next to him before he knows what's what._ But I can't. I just chose not to be with him so I can't go running to who knows where; wasting valuable time that could be better used slaying a Jabberwocky.

_Back on task._ So first, to slay a Jabberwocky, I'm going to need to get into faery. Since I have no idea where a trod might be in this town I'm going to have to settle for asking the bartender if he has one lying around. Either that or I could make a deal with someone to take me there, but that's not a very nice idea. Ash drilled it into my brain to stay away from deals. Especially ones with Rowan or Sage.

Once I shove my way past the dancers and get a seat at the bar I flag down Josh.

"What's going on, chicka?"

"Do you have a trod to faery?" I ask in a low voice. The people around here were wild and many of them I didn't know their species. They could easily be aligned with someone who wants me dead for whatever reason.

Josh's fun loving expression goes dark. "How much are you willing to pay?"

"How much is needed?"

We stand-off staring at each other. Neither of us wanted to answer the questions because if we did we could get cheated on a deal easily. Josh is probably wary of striking a deal with me because I've spent three years in faery. They could have taught me much in my time there.

"Your first born child." He states blandly, trying to down play that cost.

"Okay. So here's the deal. In exchange for safe pass into faery, using the trod in this building, I'll give you my first-born child. Deal?"

His eyebrows shoot up to his hair-line. "You're not even going to fight for your first-born child? Come on! The bargaining is the best part!"

"Ah, excuse me," A new voice says, pushing me behind him. Puck stood in front of me, his lanky, strong arms keeping me from leaping forward and asking him to agree again. "But no one's giving up any first-born child. So you, handsome, can run along and tell your Coyote friends that Revan's Lady Friend is off-limits."

Josh gives him a glare. "Puck," He pauses. "Fancy seeing you here. But my bargain isn't with you this time." He nods to me. "It's with her. Now move out of the way and let _civilized_ people discuss."

"What's that supposed to mean, mutt? It's hard to hear you when fleas are crawling on top of each other in that comb over of yours."

Josh waves his hands in a girly, mocking manner. "Well," He says in a gay voice. "I didn't know that looks mattered so much to you, sweet pea. If I would have known," He runs a hand through his replica of Pucks hair, looking gay and mockingly seductive. "I would have cleaned up better. Besides, everyone knows how much Puck loves baths." He makes a dramatic wink at Puck.

Several of the patrons paying attention try to stifle down laughter, me included. Josh was still the same old jokester. Puck's eyes narrowed to green slits. I could imagine him fuming in that small head of his. If someone was copying my looks and basically using them to mock impersonate me I would be lopping off heads.

"Puck, why don't you just go find Revan and leave? He's sure to still be around here somewhere."

Puck whirls on me. "Where did he go?" He demands, his hair moving and writhing as if it were lit aflame.

I shrug, backing away a step. "I don't know, don't care. But you might want to calm down before your head lights on fire."

"What happened?" Josh said in his normal voice, looking just as displeased as Puck, and having a remarkably similar expression.

Puck glared down at me, towering over my head by an entire head. "What did you say to him?" He hissed.

My breathing became irregular. I took a step back, biting my lip. Robin's hot emerald eyes scorned me, threatening me to stay silent any longer. I backed up another step, my back hitting some one's chest. I turn and see Josh with the same look planted on his face. People stopped to stare at the drama playing out.

"What makes you think I answer to you?" My voice was stronger than I felt. I just hoped that Goodfellow would buy it and back off, taking his clone with him.

Goodfellow's lips pulled into a vicious grin. "Well, I guess if you won't tell then we'll just have to beat it out of you," He looked up to Josh, "Won't we?"

Josh smirked and grabbed my shirt from behind, pulling me off the ground as if I was a feather. "Absolutely. You first, oh great prankster." He joked.

"But I didn't even say anything!"

"Oh, but that sounds like a load of bullshit. If you didn't say anything then Revan would still be following you and you would still be acting like you didn't like him."

The floor boards creaked. Roses erupted from the surface and wrapped around my limbs, much like our first meeting. The thorns jammed in my skin and lifted me off the ground. The more I struggled the larger the thorns grew. Huge red roses bloomed at the tip, making a huge heart around my head.

_Because you _love_ him._ Pucks voice chimed in my head.

I gaped at him. _Puck's inside my head._

"No I'm not." Puck denies. "Now stop trying to change the subject, that's very rude."

_How the hell is this possible?_

His brow creases. "How—what?"

"What's going on?" Josh mocks. "You just figure out that you're part of their pack?"

Pucks power wavers as he's distracted. I use the chance I have to draw my glamour from the surrounding area, charging it and holding it in me. Around us people begin to chant. "Faery fight! Faery fight!" Once my glamour built up inside me I released it. The temperature dropped. The lights flickered out as the wires froze. People stopped dancing as the music stopped. The tainted smell of fear ran through my nose.

My glamour spread over Pucks vines, freezing them in place and making them as fragile as glass. With a jerk I shatter the vines. People hooted and cheered. Green eyes glowed everywhere, indicating our spirit animal audience. They corralled the humans out the front doors with swift efficiency. Josh grabbed me from behind. I kicked his knee and grabbed his arm, hauling him over my shoulder and smashing him on the ground. The floor froze as an ice rink.

_Round two, summer._ I slide around the rink silently, drawing two long, pointed swords from glamour. The ice they were made from would hold well enough. Making solid swords is difficult when you've used most of your energy freezing a floor. I could see just as I could with lights on. Josh could see me, too. He got up off the floor and stared straight at me. Puck looked around and listened for any noised that would give me away. He had already spawned several of him. They crept out and searched for me.

I slid forward, going straight for the real Robin. Josh leapt in the way, his body mixing between a dog and a human. I stabbed at his chest. A Puck duplicate grabbed the back of my shirt and sliced my forearm. All of the Pucks came toward me with their daggers drawn. Several of Pucks voices echoed in my head.

_That's cute; you're trying to _kill _me._

_Ice-boy's a better fighter._

_Come on! Show me what you got!_

_You lose!_

A ton of pain hit me. Little slices all over my body made me flare out in rage. I killed a few Pucks but they only turned to leaves. Josh punched me and dodges my attacks. Both of them were faster than me. They knocked the swords out of my hand and we engaged in knife combat. Josh was easy to block and counter but Puck had much more experience. He went straight through my defenses and gave me welts.

When I couldn't keep up with their strength anymore we began using glamour. Josh had stayed out of this one because of a knife I left in his leg. Puck and I dueled with summer and winter glamour. I lasted only a few seconds.

This wasn't a fight. This was when two men only tried to stop the girl from hurting herself to much. They cut me but not enough to I would bleed. They hit me but it was half-hearted. I swung my swords and they dodged. It all looked fancy, and by the intensely interested eyes of the Spirit Animals, it must have looked like a good fight. But it was one-sided. Ten minuets' later, after lots of bruising and cuts and welts, Puck held me up against the wall. I was unarmed and exhausted.

"Alright, not that you're done playing we can go find Wolfe and you two can do whatever kissy make up stuff you need to do and we can go save the princeling." Puck smiled viciously. He looked animalistic.

The lights had come on and people went back to partying. It only took seconds before they forgot all about us and for humans to begin showing up again.

I nodded in defeat. Josh stood behind him, mimicking Pucks every move in an overly exadurated, gay manner, and stopping when Puck looked back at him.

The entire way Puck babbled on in and out of my head. He included Josh in on our "conversation" and made sure that I was ready to die from embarrassment and being overly annoyed. If you think that Puck is annoying outside of your head you should see just how bad he is inside. I tried to get inside his but I didn't know how. I was just going to have to accept that they were coming with me and that I need help. Because if I can't beat Puck and Josh in a fight than I'm sure not going to beat the devil himself.

**Hola! How goes it? You can thank Alex Grimm for PMing me and threatening to beat me up after school if I didn't update. =P She didn't really threaten to beat me up, but if I didn't update then who knows? She's scary.**

**Oh, and I've got another story going on the Fpress website. Its so hard to get people to read it over there. =O Just search The Dark Muse, as the author, and the title of the story is called The Faery Thief.**

**Summery: Heather has the sight for the Fae, a normally invisible, cruel, and monstrous kind that wreck havoc on humans everywhere, hurting and often killing them for pleasure. To take revenge on them she goes into Faery Land and steals plants and sometimes faeries possessions to sell on E-Bay. When she isn't the only one who does it, and the other steals Jack Frost's staff, she might be toast.**

**Sorry for the advertising...**


	20. Decisions and Fog

We found Revan back at the gym. He was exorcising vigorously, lifting several weights on the bench-press. The lights shown like alien suns, lighting up the white walls and steel equipment painfully. Lots of other men were here as well as a few women. They all stood around and uses the machines that hummed with electricity. In the weight room heave metal music blared. Puck and Josh were having a ball, though Puck looked faintly green. Most likely from all the iron around. Josh was fine. Better than fine. He bounced around the room and immediately struck up conversation with some of the guys already there. They all smiled and laughed.

I sulked to the back. The last thing I wanted to do was talk to Revan. He was controlling, projecting an image on me, and I can't stand it! Yes, because I lost I will apologize. I will tolerate him because I need help, as much as I'd hate to admit it. There was no way I can get my brothers out of hell without them. This is for them, after all. Or, at least it was. Mab deserves her sons back. That much I know. The only thing I really want is Riley's blood. She'll be there waiting for me. As Lucifer's pet she'd have to be. Not to mention she'll be guarding Rowan. So the best chance I have of getting to her is to bring help to fight with me. Actually, that may not be true.

_Kill him now and come here or lead him here, it makes no difference to me. Maxilim cannot hurt you in my realm if I do not condone it. Should you choose to live then you will spend eternity as my servant. A fair trade, don't you think? Your brothers, Ash, Sage, and Rowan will be released back into the Nevernever, alive and whole, if you choose to agree to these terms._

That was what Lucifer had written to me. I could just kill Revan. Win him over. Make him think that he has my heart and make him happy. Make the rest of the group happy. Then one night when he's not expecting it I just take a knife and shove it in his back! Easy. I don't really want to be a servant. If Riley is his servant and he's training her then why wouldn't he train me? I could get strong and smart enough to kill Lucifer and get out, then kill my father. Take my fathers place. Call upon every single spirit wolf to my aid and kill Mab. Take her place. I could rule the whole damn world.

_Wow. Look at him go._ Puck mused. _Haven't seen him this angry since the time I gave him a leash for his birthday._

I looked at Revan. He had put down the bar. His chest glistened with sweat and was swollen with the excessive use. I walked towards him, already formulating a plan to get his forgiveness.

Would I really want to kill him? Revan's always been there. He's protective, understands my lost soul situation, and we do share some of the same humor. And he's a skilled fighter. We could work together to get my brothers out of hell and return them to Mab. Maybe she would offer me to return as her daughter. If not then me and Revan could be together, explore the world, just live our lives. Forget about killing Riley. She's chosen her path. Why should I waste my time with her?

Revan stopped what he was doing. He looked at me. He sat on the bench, unmoving and unwavering. No emotion showed on his face. The air around him was warm and burning with his presence.

_Loving is a weakness._Some part of me said. _Use him. Kill him when the time is right._ It would make sense. I could gain so much power. I could rule the world someday. No one would be able to stop me. I would be the gods. I would be the only thing in the world that had power. I would be the only thing that mattered.

_Love is what saves us._ Another part says. I've seen that in action before. Bad people find love, they straighten out and get on with their lives. It doesn't happen often but it does every so often. _Work with him. Be there for him. Love him_. It was also a logical solution to all of this. If we could just be together then maybe all of this confusion would just go away. I might be able to know what I want to do instead of being to wishy-washy. He could maybe help me find a way out of this mess.

I stopped before him and stared. The people in the gym looked at us and waited. _Josh, the bastard. He's turned this into a show! _

The spot light was on us. There was no going back now. My stomach did a back flip and I tried to start off. Either way I wanted/needed him back. Which ever way it went, he was there. Unless I decide to kill him.

I was about to say,_ I'm sorry, I was wrong and I should have listened to you._ But I didn't think that at all.

_Even though it's true._ Puck said.

I ignored him. Anger flared. I wanted desperately to turn around and punch him in the face. I doubt he would let me. My expression must have darkened, because so did Revan's.

"Did you come here to pick another fight?" He asked in a calm, clipped voice.

"Puck's in our pack." I whined, trying to make a joke. To defuse the tension. It worked for Puck, so if might work for me. Anything to get him to stop being angry.

Revan wasn't amused, though his eyes flicked to Puck for a moment. Puck waved cheerily and Revan's lip curled ever so slightly. When he looked back at me, he went stone faced again. "So we're in a pack now, are we?"

I slumped my shoulders. "I'm sorry. I over-reacted."

"Over-reacted about what?" He arched an eyebrow.

I bit my lip and leaned to the side. "Freezing the human boy. He was only trying to be friendly and get to know me." I held back a smirk. I hope that the last part got a rise out of him. Just for kicks. After all he wasn't entirely blameless. He can't just set expectations for me. Either he likes me as I am or he leaves me. It should get some kind of rise out of him. He's always been a bit overprotective.

Revan tensed. I tried extra hard to hold back that smirk. "What do you mean?"

I shrugged. "Maybe you were right. He probably didn't deserve to get frozen. He was just getting a little to close for comfort."

Revan stood up. "Why are you suddenly agreeing with me? Half an hour ago you said that that was your idea of behaving. Why the change of heart?"

"I don't have a change in heart." I told him truthfully. "But I think I did over react. Maybe that Lost Soul thing is biting me in the ass, I don't know. But if that's what you put up with all the time then I think that I could do it to. We could both work though it. Get it solved and be done with it! You wouldn't have to constantly have to fight those urges and humans would be safer around you. You could be happy. Just let me help you."

"You want to help me?" He crossed his arms.

"Yeah." Not really, but I could. It would work out for the both of us. So I mine as well.

"Then prove it."

"How?"

He stopped and thought. Puck was silent. For once. Though I suspected that he was inside Revans head, chattering away and annoying him. It was so weird having him in the room and not hearing talking. Josh was looking at us with unhidden amusement. Of course he was. It was partly his idea to come and find Revan to begin with.

Why did I even need to prove it? It's not like I was the only bad guy in this situation. He is so invasive! I can't have two thoughts to myself without him knowing it!

"You have to help three people in this town by tomorrow morning. If you don't then I'll never talk to you again."

I point a finger at his chest. "And you have to promise to give me some privacy. I can't think straight with you constantly reading my thoughts!" I turn to Puck. "And stop telling him everything I'm thinking!"

_Now who said I was doing such a thing?_ Puck said in my head. _I'm one of the most trust worthy people in the world._

Once more I ignore him. He was not. He killed Ariella and betrayed Ash. The last thing he could possibly be was trust worthy. Puck was not my friend. He was not my pack. I don't even know why he's here. To kill off Ash, maybe?

Revan rolled his eyes. "Here we go again."

I balked at him. "Excuse me? You can't just march in my mind and know everything about me every second of the day! I'll help you if you want but that doesn't mean that I'm giving you full rights to my head!"

Josh looked to Revan, "Were you really in her head the _entire_ time?"

"It's none of your business what I do, mutt." He growled defensively.

"It's none of your business of what goes on inside of her head." He argued back.

I almost jump for joy. "Someone see's the light!" I raise my hands in the air and shake them towards the heavens.

"It is my business. I can't protect her unless I know what she's got planning."

That stopped me. If he could have read my mind a minuet ago then this whole thing would be toast. I didn't know what I wanted to do yet, but if he knew that killing him was an option that I was considering then he might never talk to me again. Did I even want him to? Can I knowing that I don't know what I really want? How can I be near him when I don't know whether to kill him or kiss him? And most of all, is all of this confusion a phase of being a Lost Soul?

_Don't think that I don't know about the offer Lucifer made you. I've never really left you. No matter how far apart we are I can always listen. I've listened to you try to choose between my grave and our love._ Raven said. He didn't even look away from Josh. Not even a pause in his argument with him. _Now you know what I've gone through every single day since your father killed my original Pack. The confusion, the hate, the temptation, all of it._

If he really lived through all of this for all of this time then there is no possible way he's sane. Any being cannot know what anything is without first knowing which way is down. Right now I'm not sure why I'm going to hell. I only know that I am. I don't know why I came back here without more of a fight. I only know that I came. No sane person can understand anything through this fog.

Imagine walking down a trail you've known all of your life. Then, when a fog comes in, it's like the whole thing is rearranged and distorted so bad you wonder where you've made a wrong turn. So you go back but it takes you somewhere else that looks just like the place you've been. This is like that. I don't know where I'm going, I don't know if I'll get there, but I know I'm going somewhere. And right now somewhere is better than here.

_You are better than somewhere. You are my somewhere. Don't leave me, because I need you. You're better than what I left behind and I won't go back._

Could I find somewhere better with him? I don't know. But that somewhere would be most defiantly better than here.

_I'll stay with you if you stop reading my mind all of the time._

_Then promise that you'll try to be like you used to be._

_How was that?_

For a moment he didn't answer. Puck did.

_You used to be a whole lot nicer, that's for sure. Oh! And you weren't so broody all of the time. Try to smile more, or better yet, try to keep your knifes in their sheathes._

I groaned. _I'll try to not use them as much if you keep all of the unnecessary communication out of my head!_

Puck's amusement was telegraphed through our bond. _We'll wee how long that lasts._


End file.
